“Dort wo ich gestern hätte sein sollen. Ich bin heute hier.” (Where I should have been yesterday. I am here today) is the most comprehensive publication to date by the artists and photographers Petra Elena Köhle and Nicolas Vermot-Petit-Outhenin. The double volume is the fruit of a memorable experiment: on 8 March 2006, Köhle and Vermot travelled to Palermo on separate paths. For 21 days, they wanted to live in the city and sound out the likelihood of a chance encounter. Equipped with a camera, dictaphone and GPS device that documented their paths step by step, they spent their days strolling through the streets and alleys, the port and the parks of the city in constant expectation of meeting the other by chance, of seeing him or her sitting in a café or appearing around the next corner.
In the two parallel volumes, the publication traces the history of this stay in Palermo and shows where the paths and experiences of the two artists diverged and where they intersected. The photo series and individual images, structured according to days, focus on moments that differentiate the narrative or take us on a rambling city walk. They reveal the city of Palermo, tell of political events, mafia involvement, everyday life in the town, or encounters with strangers, missed meetings and last but not least, loneliness, i.e. the absence of the other person.
The sequences of pictures are supplemented by protocols, texts from diaries, notes on one's own state of mind, conversations with chance acquaintances and dreams again and again, and tell as many stories as they ultimately conceal.