‘on the elephant path’ is a photographic correspondence between three artists: Jose Witteveen in Rome, Italy, Tessa Groenewoud in Gent, Belgium, and Ira Tattelman in Washington, DC.
Movement impacts the space around us, sometimes functional, intentional, or unplanned. An elephant path is an unofficial route made by people for ease of use, a way of travel in the constructed world based on a particular desire. People vote with their feet. Their interventions in urban space are the evidence of actions - short cuts, play spaces, or gathering spots. They are the lines we draw on the landscape.
With this practice, we metaphorically flatten the grass or cut through a hedge to find a direction that is unconcerned with a predetermined plan. This is a research project with curious threads or puzzling approaches. We are taking an informal expedition, a circuitous journey, following intuition and individual creativity, jumping over gaps and limitations. There may not be a destination but as we move freely from one location to another, we reveal something about our social, everyday life.
As photographers, we observe, respond to, and interpret the built surroundings. By taking pictures of the places we occupy, we make physical and emotional connections to the environments in which we live and travel. Our interactions and collaboration are a dialogue with and an examination of our environs. On this cluttered ground, we make decisions. We write our stories with our work, following unintended passages or capturing unexpected routes.
This correspondence also indicates a yearning to respond, give feedback, and engage with one another. It is important that no one prescribes our path. We recognize our desire to have a choice. 

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