In the Study of the Letters in Red…

Abstract

Devised through collaboration, this article combines a selection of photographs and journal entries from Rodrigo Velasco's Letters in Red with a reflective essay by Sunil Manghani. The Letters in Red use the Spanish alphabet to organize a series of confessional and intertextual dialogues (inspired by a series of journeys) concerning topics of love, colour, literature, and space; each brought together with photographs taken in Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. The thread running through the work is a study of the colour red. In this article, format extracts from the Letters are situated (in novelistic form) as a set of correspondence, revealing two interrelated concerns. First, what it means to write about place, and what we consider a suitable place (or study) for writing. Second, a query over the nature (and dilemma) of pursuing meaningful research, especially where that research incorporates images and found objects into its writing.

Keywords:

• colour
• correspondence
• flânerie
• photography
• travel
• visual research