Forty years of image immersion / saturation and tireless exploration of photographers published work, access to private and university library's, collecting vast piles of books and magazines have — well , left me somewhat familiar and for some time underwhelmed by the work of others .
This at once both worried and calmed me .
Enough input already `I cried'. I was seemingly happy to find my voice without further external stimulation and yet a disquieting thought remained that I had become polarized or too jaded to be truly excited by the wonderful personal work of others, thereby defeating my own projections.
Of course along the road there have been markers, but only recently did a pattern crystalize and the weight of these beacons light a tractable path.
The common features of these photographers were that they chose to express themselves in high end black and white analogue images, were all from Mexico / Latin America and born in the 1940s — 50's.
Beyond , or perhaps because of this, they all resonated uncomfortably with my brief and turbulent travels into northern Mexico in the mid seventies. Travel overshadowed by political and socioeconomic unease with `hippy gringo's' and the many kidnappings prevalent at the time, in the tough desert regions adjoining the opulent US with it's contrasting wealth.
Traveling with the local people by train, made us conspicuous and a lack of language skills and hippy demeanor attracted a squad of four well armed Policía Federal Preventiva (Federal Preventive Police) and an officer who held up the train's departure while they pointedly removed and searched the ceiling lining in the carriage above our heads, and then shadowed us for every hour of our brief underfunded stay.
Of course the travelers view is one of surfaces and contrast all of which under the magnified mid summer heat , and surveillance only brought home the mystery and separation of the experience.
That there was a dark and secretive spiritual element interwound with the fierce harsh light, funereal black clothing and flashes of brilliant colour that passed before me was fueled by the recent mystical readings of Carlos Castenada and the shock of my first contact with a third world culture.
So it was years later that image makers, who understood and explored these, their native mysteries, slowly separated themselves from the torrent of visual input that I had become seemingly immune too My excitement grew as they formed a new canon in my understanding and appreciation of the power of the photographic medium.
Graciela Iterbide
To hint at or cross the boundaries of the temporal world of photography's representation of light on surfaces and to tap into the spiritual and emotional depth of a cultural psyche, is at the core of my fascination with its power and potential, as a creative medium.To see this applied to cultures beyond our experience and illuminate the archetypal and resonate in otherwise familiar and inexpressible ways is an epiphany.
Graciela Iturbide, Flor Gardino, Valdir Cruz and the late Mario Cravo Neto, have all produced work in exploration of artistic expression within their spiritual culture. In doing so, they open powerful portals into the dark Mexican latino realms of art belief and superstition.
Elemental, haunting and technically masterful works by these photographers do to me what is the essential starting place for experiencing great works of art. They illuminate and resonate pathways littered with enquiry, exploration and perhaps eventually some understanding.
A solitary road for each viewer, like a braided river joining and separating on its path to the sea and back to the mountain top, source of all accumulated memory.
One of my alltime favourite photographers (along with Salgardo. The bird/wing image is beautiful. Keep posting!
ReplyDelete