2023-10-04 01:07:14
Freedom Tates of Reality is the photobook of Juan Barte published by Formidable Books and that was selected by Factory y Photo London for him Book Dummy Award.
The advancement of technology means that the presence of our body progressively disappears in work relationships, friendships, even sexual ones, and that is why Juan Barte reflects on that body increasingly absent from everyday life that has stopped experiencing what surrounds it and has been replaced by all types of artifacts: touch screens, mobile phones, tablets or virtual reality glasses. Freedom Tastes of Reality is a reflection to put the body as a fundamental pillar of the photobook, entering into the pain, gender, individual freedom, sensuality y courage.
A work that has involved nine years of development, involving around 80 artists of the new Madrid scene that showed their work processes related to the body and individual freedom, using decontextualization so that the photographs take center stage and not the photographed character. And why choose artists as the basis of work? Because it has become the prototype of an individual in today’s society, everyone believes or has to be creative, independent, self-sufficient, becoming the model of the new worker
For informational purposes only, these are photographed: Abel Azcona, Eugenio Merino, Okuda San Miguel, Maria Forque, William Mora, Ruben Rodrigo, Albano Hernandez, Alexander Botubol, Alex de la Croix, Almudena Lobera, Carlos Aires, Cecilia Gala, Julia Llerena, Julius Sarramian, King Jedet, Maillo, Nacho Martin Silva, Naiara Carmona, Nuria Mora, Olalla Gomez, Omar Jerez, Oro Jondo, Raisa Maduit, Raul Diaz Reyes, Remed, Sansano Nasnas, Santiago Giralda. With all of them, we start from a premise to start the photo session, from there, each one takes the initiative and improvises.
As happened with INFINITE of David Jimenez (Photovision, 2000) chance has played an important role when deciding the final layout, that chaos that appears unexpectedly, an unexpected order makes the photographs gain sudden strength, always with the aim of forcing us to look carefully, think and create, not as mere spectators but as protagonists to find the subtle, the details and find what apparently it is hidden.
Furthermore the black and white establishes a plot gateway to the series, stripping the individuality of color in each image and separating us from the world as we see it, providing subjectivity, abstraction and diluting the border between reality / fiction. Black and white makes it possible to limit the information that the viewer receives, and at the same time become more noticeable, it also enables a personal, timeless and abstract vision, so that the audience navigates between the staged and the spontaneous, fiction and reality.
Freedom Tastes of Reality reintroduces the body, it is a celebration of that increasingly absent body, since, in this liquid life that we lead, the body has become the only certainty, the only thing that can give us a defined and verifiable outline, a map of our identity. Because it seems that the body has become a kind of ballast. On the one hand, a luxury that requires continuous care and maintenance; exercise in paid places, gyms, spas, healthy food… and on the other, a threat; possible contagion, a vector of diseases.
If photographs were standard portraits in which the individual is recognized, we would enter into the dynamic of who is who, who is in the book and who is not. Naturally the images would be a representation of that particular person and would stop functioning as metaphors for what I want to tell and transmit. These photographs go beyond the person’s appearance. On the other hand, since there is no immediate recognition, the audience can assume a active role. The presence of the faces, especially if there is a direct look from their eyes to the audience, focuses all attention on that point. When we do not fear this reference we are forced to search throughout the photograph for clues that help us make sense of it. This provokes a creative process that opens the door to a multitude of interpretations, associations and readings.
A common phenomenon when we see images is the so-called immediate recognition. Our eyes begin to see an image, a landscape of mountains, for example, and the brain decides what is faster, takes control and builds a projection of the rest of the landscape, then takes the image as a view, understood, we move on to the next and we don’t see anymore. So we do not see with our eyes the entire image in front of us, the image is completed by the brain pulling from knowledge and images stored in the past. The consequence is that you have difficulty seeing new things. This phenomenon is what prevents us from noticing the new haircut on that person we see every day. So this photobook is designed with the intention of block immediate recognition and forcing us to see.
On the one hand, it is about accustoming the eye to look calmly and patiently, with deep and contemplative attention, to let things come closer. Only in this way can the floating, the inconspicuous, the volatile be revealed. And on the other hand, it is about exploring and making the most of this object that is the book, and what is exclusive to it as a medium.
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