For me, taking photographs has two stages that I enjoy, and that is why I am starting this fine art photography blog: the first is the creation of the photographs, and the second is being able to show them, to share my photographs.
The process already makes sense on its own
There is something in the very process of making a still life that is already satisfying to me: thinking about the idea, looking for the objects, setting up the scene, playing with the light. That process does not need an audience to make sense, and I would probably keep doing it even if no one ever saw it.
But it would be a lie to say that sharing it doesn’t change something.
For a long time, I have been taking photographs and saving them on my hard drive, but something was always missing from the process. I had entire folders with years of still lifes that only I had seen. I knew that many of those photographs were good, but they just stayed there, stored away, without completely fulfilling their purpose. Does it make sense to create something and not share it?
What changes when sharing
Showing my work forces me to be more demanding with myself. When I know that a photograph is going to leave my computer and reach other people, I look at it differently: more critically, paying more attention to details that in private I might let slide.
Sharing is also what keeps me motivated to continue. Seeing that an image catches someone’s attention, that it awakens a reaction or a question, is part of what drives me to set up the next still life. Visitors’ reactions, advice, criticism, questions… they make the whole process much more interesting than just taking the photographs.
The limits of social media
At first, I focused more on social media, but it imposes its own rules: it has its algorithms and doesn’t always favor the process of those of us who do this type of photography. On Instagram, for example, a photograph is seen small, compressed, and surrounded by other posts competing for attention. It is difficult for someone to stop and look at it calmly, and almost impossible to explain in a caption why I made it or what lies behind it.
It is very important to be able to present each work to a large number of people around the world, but I miss that process having more quality: being able to show the photographs in a larger size, being able to explain my work, being able to share with those interested this way of transmitting ideas.
Why I am starting this blog
And with all this, another very rewarding part of the process has appeared: I like to think that my work can be useful or inspiring to someone who is also curious about this type of photography. Just as I have learned by looking at the work of others, I would like this website to be able to contribute something similar to whoever visits it.
I am not just looking to show finished photos. That is why I have decided to open this blog space: to also tell the process, the ideas that do not work, the references that inspire me, the equipment I use, and the mistakes I make along the way.
I think that makes the work understood better, and also makes it feel closer. Little by little, this page will fill up with those pieces: processes, doubts, and learnings that usually stay out of the final photograph. If you are interested in this type of photography, this is a good place to stay for a while. And if you feel like telling me about your own experience, whether as a photographer or simply as someone who likes to look at photographs, you can do so in the comments or write to me on Instagram.
Here, there is plenty of room for all of that.