‘PORTRAITS OF SOUND’ COLLECTION

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

by DJ

DJ is a filmmaker living in Shanghai. Nature, transformation and dream states appear frequently in his surreal and meditative visuals and soundscapes.

The Portraits of Sound series was conceived due to a close friend’s passing which led to a period of reflection on the nature of mortality, rebirth and our coexistence with nature.

With this in mind, I wanted to make a surreal an intimate series to invite the viewer to go inward – to slow down and observe in this heightened state.

The intention of the series is for it to serve as a reminder and charm to reflect on your own mortality regardless of whatever chaos or dissonance is happening around you – to ground you in the present moment, to accept the pain you may be experiencing and to remove its power over you through that embrace. 

Shot on a very limited amount of 35mm and 16mm film stock, the project afforded in some cases only a single chance to capture the scene, weaving elements of fatefulness, intense focus and gravity into the process.

Each of the moving portraits are Shanghai-based music producers, with each film’s sound being their own music for this project – adding another layer of direct creator experience into the series.

Having the opportunity to share this project with someone to have and enjoy truly as their own is a dream. I hope the final owner can cultivate a very personal connection and experience with each piece.

The pieces in the collection will be released weekly starting on March 29^th at 8pm EST, coinciding with a full moon and Holi Festival – the festival of spring, colors and love, signifying the triumph of light over dark.  

Each film was conceived during a silent meditation retreat and later crystalized when writing the following thoughts down.

The Sound of Death

My instinct is to say ‘silence,’ but I also believe there are frequencies of existence, infinite, uncountable waves that pulse and echo everywhere, always…waves we can hear with our ears and countless others which we are incapable of detecting.

I think the sound of death is the orchestra of these un-hearable waves resounding around us always.

Death Personified

I believe this individual would see through all artifice into our deepest, truest selves. Nothing would matter to this objective being other than this.

And so, reflecting on coming face to face with personified death motivates me in this moment to confront myself to be truer, kinder and more honest.

The Feeling of Death

I imagine death to be a release from worldly concerns. I imagine it to be an entry into a space where a higher consciousness devoid of fear and negative emotion and judgement pervades…a place that simply exists devoid of ego.

Life After Death

Perhaps our disembodied consciousness will enter a space where we can communicate with beings capable of guiding us to have a clearer concept of what our life was like and who we were — beings from whom we can learn deeper truths.

The Most Beautiful Way to Die

To die in an entirely unforeseen way, without pain, with comfort in the certainty that you didn’t compromise your values or cause others pain in your life time. To die knowing that you radiated as much compassion and love as your beautifully-flawed self was capable of.