Highlights August 2024

An interesting month

And we start with this stolen portrait, not asking permission in order to preserve that expression.

I think that the exposure metering makes the difference here. It could have gone differently, in the rush to shoot, and instead it went exactly as I hoped. A photo that in a certain sense highlights my monochromatic nature and how much it is and will be in my future as a photographer.

For layout reasons in the video the image is cropped, but I think it works both ways. A photograph that because of the postures and compositional choices reminds me of William Klein. One of the first shots made with my new camera, Canon 5D M2.

I love this shot. I think it managed to highlight the salient points of what drove me to photograph. In a shot like this, getting very close, I had to use my experience to avoid eye contact which here, in my opinion, would have led to a different photo that I wanted to avoid.

A photo taken from the window of my house. In the context of what I am interested in building, a continuous portrait of the barrio and of existing in this dimension for me and for all of us who live there.

The other day I ventured into other borderlands, a different barrio that I didn't know, not far from the historic center, but that's also the beauty of Mexico City: suddenly finding yourself in a completely different place. This can be beautiful but also, at times, dangerous. Especially going alone, especially with a camera. I guess it's part of the game, accept it or not. Although I wouldn't recommend it to first-timers. In this shot there are some urban elements that I like and that make sense to propose in this selection of the month.

Elements of the city that show life even without directly presenting the man have always interested me and will always be so. I don't see street photography in just one way and it starts from the idea, for me, that everything that is interesting to me I have to photograph. Many times it doesn't work, few times it works very well.

This can be considered the first real portrait shot with the Canon 5D. The subtle smile makes the shot, but I am happy to see anything is well arranged in the frame. It is a shot that could be made even in the 50s, there are not evidences of modern times in this shot.

Speed ​​of execution is essential for a shot like this. And this is an essential part of what I teach in my workshops too.

There are geometric elements in the city that strike me a lot. Sometimes I am struck by the structures of a building, by the facades that seem surreal to me and worthy of being shown through my way of seeing. For me there is a way of photographically presenting these structures that is absolutely the point of view of a street photographer and not that of an architectural photographer.

My photography has long since stopped having this idea of ​​wanting to create documents. Rather, I am interested in photography itself, without any intention or claim to document anything, but rather recognizing photographic fragments and finding myself in that intuition of construction of form and content. In returning to that perhaps naive formula, of the childish gaze, of my surprise in front of the world, I find myself as an artist. An artisan artist where the word artisan comes first because it is more important and more respectful of what I am and what I feel.

Lee Friedlander as a constant beacon of my dimension as a street photographer. I think that the dimension of the urban landscape within street photography is often underestimated. But if we think in a metaphysical way and at the same time of photography as an opportunity to reflect on our direct experience, we understand perfectly how important it is to access that intimate part that allows us to make our presence evident through our gaze. The urban landscape in street photography holds a profound, often overlooked dimension. It serves as more than mere backdrop; it becomes a canvas onto which our perceptions and interpretations of life are projected.

Conclusions

My research territory has expanded. In this new dimension as a photographer I am able to better focus my attention on everything that really moves me as a storyteller. In avoiding popular logic, I only follow myself and do not repeat formulas that can be successful in general.