el dia de los muertos 2009 (c) LomiMonk Photography
It has been quite a while since I last posted an Inspiration Monday post; several months at least. It is not that I fail to be inspired by others that has kept me from posting, but rather that I think I am looking for that special something to inspire me. There is a lot of photography in the world and a lot of photographers working on really fantastic stuff but the more I look at others’ work the more confused I get at times. So much of it is good. So much of it is skilled. And so much of it makes me think, “wow, I want to be able to do that!” Such thoughts are a bit dangerous. They can leave me a bit scattered in my approach; they can leave me attempting to replicate others’ work, and while a small victory can be achieved in doing so, ultimately I can feel empty for not having done my own work.
So, what is it I am looking for in others? What am I looking for in their work other than that desire to copy, emulate, or recreate? I think I am looking for that person, that artist, that has moved beyond the achievement of skilled craftsmanship into the realm of communication, of expression: what many these days are calling “Voice.” I am really looking for an artist to remind me, both mentally and emotionally, to focus on my work, on my voice, on what feels right to me. I think today I have found some one who has done that, at least in some small part.
In today’s Inspiration Monday post, the 19th in this series, I would like to present Isabel Muñoz. Hailing originally from Barcelona, Isabel is currently represented as one of contemporary Spain’s bright stars at the Woman and Woman exhibition at the Instituto Cervantes building at the National Hispanic Cultural Center here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has four 66 inch by 66 inch platinotype prints hanging there which just blew my mind. Her work appears to center around how light interacts with, reveals, and conceals form and shape. Many of her images, while cultural in nature, use the human form to convey the artist’s vision at the expense of the subject’s identity. These images encourage the viewer to have a relationship with their own interpretation, visceral in nature in my case, of the image. See the images that deal with dance under her “Obras” menu, especially Danza Cubana (Cuban Dance), Tango, and Lucha Turca (Turkish Wrestling) for what I consider her best examples. She seems to use the human body as the expressive medium that depicts and expresses the nature of the culture she is interested in, be it tattooed Salvadoran gangs of LA, dancers (Cuban, Flamenco, Tango), bull fights, or indigenous peoples.
Working in medium format black and white with platinum processing, Muñoz found her medium of expression. By limiting herself to the arduous constraints this type of photographic production entails she has begun to move beyond its limits into artistic expression and interpretation. This is what I am looking for in inspiring artists: transcending the limits of technique to arrive at unique, inspired creativity.
As a nice extra, there is a “Making Of” section on her website that contains several movies of behind the scenes action from some of her photoshoots. Even if you do not understand Spanish, the feel and look of the shoot and of Isabel Muñoz interactions with her varied subject easily depicts her respect and interest in them.