Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.
In this series, A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.
For the ninth post of the series, Facundo Bustamante talks about his new photography project in which he explores family homes and the relationship between memory and space.
Facundo says: "This image belongs to my personal project called ‘Yapeyú 70’. I’ve been re-exploring a very special house to me: where my mother’s side of the family lived, where I enjoyed wonderful care-free moments of my childhood and also where many important and moving events of my life took place before I migrated from Argentina to the UK.
I wanted to treasure those corners that meant a lot to me; memories and feelings that - even though it may sound as dramatic as a tango- were brought back to the present when I visited that house for the last couple of times in my life.
I’m very thankful I got to photograph those spaces in its final stage; just before the house was sold. And just before another story started taking place; the one that the new inhabitants will live. Where new corners, new memories and feelings will happen as well as new pictures will be taken in what will become a new home.
How wonderful is life, right? We are a collection of stories; I believe we are the kind of persons we are right now because of the stories we’ve been through in our lives, including the second that has just passed. It’s a cycle: we make choices, take actions, live, build memories and experience feelings which altogether make us the people we are today. And yet there’s more to come!
What I find fantastic about photography, and any other type of art, is that each piece generates sensations to every spectator. In a way, I find that feelings are personal and universal at the same time. Of course, each of us has particular and absolutely personal emotions. However, feelings put us all at the same level and I love that. After all, or to put in better terms- before anything we are human beings with feelings; no matter our race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or age etc.
I suppose I’ve turned this description very philosophical (sorry JC!) but actually, it’s what I feel not only about life and this project but also about this particular image I’ve decided to share. Since this image is related to feelings and the stories in it.
Untitled © Facundo Bustamante
Unfortunately, I still don’t have a title for the picture. And actually, it is one of my favourites from the project; I guess because somehow there’s a part of my story in it. I love the light coming through that textured glass and curtain; and how it ‘falls’ over the basket and the rest of that oven’s multiple volumes.
It transports me to times where I wasn’t even born and makes me wonder about the hands using that oven, the meals cooked there, the people (my great grandparents) who enjoyed that tiny kitchen and how that kitchen stayed lonely and empty for so many years.
I like the balance of the empty spaces in the frame where the shadows take place. I mostly work with natural light. This was a tricky one, though, as the interiors weren’t bright enough and I didn’t have a tripod with me. I hand-held my camera, positioned my legs, arms and body for the best possible stable pose (feel free to imagine that as a human-tripod-antenna structure, I won’t blame you), I held my breath and took the frame.
I shot on digital (Canon 5D Mark IV with my 50mm 1.4 Sigma ART lens) but I handled the whole project thinking as if I were shooting it on film, so I didn’t take loads of images; I wanted each take to be unique. It was a very intimate approach.
Not having a tripod, my shutter speed was depending on my handholding skills which, even though they are ‘respectable’, my ISO had to go higher than I wanted to; so technically it wasn’t great. But there’s not absolute perfection and that is good. It’s interesting how having certain ‘limitations’ is a positive thing and it even helps us. I believe these ‘restrictions’ let creativity emerge bringing richness to our work.
Today I was re-listening to Gabrielle Motola’s conversation with Rhiannon Adam; episode 3 of her super interesting podcast ‘Stranger Curiosity’ and it was so inspiring. Coincidentally, they were talking about photography and how “…the real photography has very little to do with the equipment and technicality of it…” and - even though it made me feel better about my high ISO- I bring this up because it’s related to what I was talking about earlier: the feelings, meanings and approaches involved in our work as photographers. Sharing and presenting in your picture, “…what you’re attracted to, how you see, what you look at…”, and also your personal interpretation, the way you say what you say.
I’m still working on this project which will become a book. Who would have thought, when the different stages of that house were built, that certain corners and spaces would have been special enough for someone to photograph and feature them in a book? Well, that’s another story; maybe told in a photograph someday."
Thank you so much, Facundo, for sharing this heartwarming story with me! I can't wait to see this project when it's finally finished.
You can learn more about Facundo's work at www.facundobustamante.com
If you haven’t read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here.
Photo credit: portrait of Facundo Bustamante © 2018 JC Candanedo.
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