When as an adolescent, I began to paint, I, like everyone, did it with influences: action painting, lyrical abstraction, the work of Hans Hartung, Zao Wou Ki, George Mathieu, Vieira Da Silva, classic Japanese and some minimalists.
This was until I understood that everything I was painting already existed, in some form. All the colours, all the graphics were already in nature … who was I to attempt to contribute something more, before so much beauty? It was there before I arrived, and it would continue after I left …
So I started taking photographs and I stopped painting. Again I found references: The Creation of Ernst Haas was a revelation … Almost half a century has passed and I am still fascinated by what I find when I pay attention. Or even with not paying attention.
My photography is basically of nature, intimate, isolating scenes, fixing those moments that the retina barely perceives and the mind forgets a second later. So many beautiful things happen that deserve our attention … I live near the sea and that is much more than a source of inspiration. We come from the sea… But I could live in the middle of the forest or surrounded by mountains, little does it matter.
There is always beauty around. And thousands of photographs waiting to be taken.
I like to work in series; a single photo can hardly convey the range of sensations that a situation provokes. In fact, many themes are so recurrent in my photography that they have been repeating themselves for years, inexhaustible, always bringing new nuances. And I usually present my work in sets. Past, present, future. Ancient masters, contemporary artists – a term with which I do not identify myself, I prefer that of apprentice – and, finally, disciples …
My photography is usually visually simple. It proposes scenes that are often restrained in such a way that it leaves room for dialogue. When the image is simpler, the more flow, in both directions, can the message transmit.
The definitive, unique, image is in the eye of the spectator, according to his own baggage, his life experiences, his sensitivity … and how he lets his own emotions flow.