Photography has the magic of making the everyday something extraordinary.
Photography has the magic of making the everyday something extraordinary.
The photographer Vari Caramés faces his first retrospective with the feeling of doing “a review of 30 years learning to look, a job that takes you a lifetime”. The exhibition Ritmo mareiro, a metaphor of the passage of time, starts in the Rekalde room on April 20 a tour that will take its misty photos to A Coruña in 2013 (Kiosco Alfonso).
Question. Has the passage of time changed the way you see your photos?
Answer. Yes, they take heart. Now that it is so fashionable, I would say they are vintage. It is an endearing exhibition, it makes my hair stand on end to see all the work put together. We intend to mount the exhibition as a collector's cabinet, a mosaic. I am not in order.
P. But it works in series.
A. Yes. I usually say that they fit together like the DNA tree, which joins the molecules in a chaotic order but ultimately determines a personality. That is the spirit of the exhibition: joining molecules that make up a corpus. It's how I see the world, through a window.
Q. What window?
R. It is the perfect metaphor for looking. We always look, from the inside to the outside or from the outside inside, but through something. There is the pleasant sensation of discovering the world through the small window that is the camera's viewfinder. The world revolves around those looks, scenarios, mysteries of the everyday that appear there. I work with things close to me. I am very intuitive and I trust my intuition, although sometimes I am wrong. Chance is more exciting than certainty, and to surprise others, you have to surprise yourself. Photography has a magic component, which makes the everyday something extraordinary. That is the fascinating challenge, that when seeing the image things that, apparently, have no interest take on another dimension.
Q. Are the technical aspects secondary?
A. Yes, but not on purpose. The cooking time that things have is very important and I have always made sure that the photos were presented in the best possible way, without reaching the Taliban point of looking at perfection. I am interested that the photo speaks, that it tells stories, if it is well positive, the better. Once I have solved a series of issues, I have always been a bit of a thug with photography.
Q. Thug?
A. I never took it too seriously. He was not looking for purity or quality. I wanted to have fun and use photography as if it were a paintbrush.
Q. A photograph that is close to painting?
A. Yes, yes. I have many references to painting, since I was a child I saw it in my family. Later, I was lucky to be in contact with artists. I love painting and cinema. It is obvious that I have a cinematic vision because of my fascination with cinema. I have never been a typical photographer, I have done a lot with little. I love to show that photography is more than just technical stuff.
P. So you do not enter the digital debate.
A. All the tools are useful, but the important thing is how you use them. And that fits you. I still have fun with old or throwaway cameras and drive the movies crazy. I do experiments, I see photography as a game. I had a great time. I tried to do digital and it was very strange. That wasn't me. I prefer to go with my sturdy flag. Leave me as I am.