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"A man sets himself the task of portraying the world. Through the years he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and people. Shortly before his death, he discovers that that patient labyrinth of lines traces the image of his face."
Jorge Luis Borges, Dreamtigers (The Maker)

Galleries

The Three Ones : THE THREE ONES Years ago, leafing through my boxes with photographic contact sheets with images taken around the world, I made an intriguing discovery: there were a lot of pictures of groups of three women. Not two or four, but three women, like the three goddesses of the infamous Paris judgement. But of course I was already warned about the dangers of making careless decisions in certain circumstances and decided not to give the apple of my clicking to any of them in particular, but to all three. Living in a city that suffered a nine-year siege in the past I thought better than that. My city didn't fall then but I guess that it is wiser not abuse, just in case.

The Three Ones

THE THREE ONES Years ago, leafing through my boxes with photographic c ...

Updated: Mar 21, 2013 2:57pm PST

Casual portraits : CASUAL PORTRAITS My approach to portraiture -one of my favorite photographic activities- has always been casual, with the results depending more on the kind of the sudden bond created with the person in front of my camera, than the preconceptions about him or her or even editorial considerations. Taking portraits of somebody can be an intense and rewarding experience, because while operating the camera I need to avoid creating gaps in the conversation, therefore as I continue talking normally, I leave the unconscious to do the job of framing and pressing the shutter. On the downside, I cannot work well unless a certain link of empathy between the person being portrayed and myself is established.

Casual portraits

CASUAL PORTRAITS My approach to portraiture -one of my favorite photog ...

Updated: Apr 05, 2013 6:27pm PST

A few selected images : SELECTED IMAGES A recollection of images taken in different places and circumstances along the years.

A few selected images

SELECTED IMAGES A recollection of images taken in different places a ...

Updated: Jan 08, 2012 10:19am PST

Readers : READERS Since my childhood I have been a compulsive reader; I can't recall having embarked on any trip that would take me more than one hour or two without carrying a book, just in case I feel the sudden urge to read. Anytime I see somebody dunking his or her head into the pages of a book, I have to refrain from asking its title and how interesting it is. Taking snapshots of readers is like photographing myself. This series is dedicated to the late master Andre Kértész, whose marvelous little (in size) book "Lectures!" is one of the jewels of my personal library, and of course, to all my brothers the readers.

Readers

READERS Since my childhood I have been a compulsive reader; I can't re ...

Updated: Dec 07, 2012 7:24am PST

Squared : SQUARED Although most of my photographic activity is done with 35mm cameras, in occasions I have also tried the medium format, not only for the added advantage in quality given by the bigger negatives, but also to compose the images in a square viewfinder for a change, forced to work more slowly and thoughtfully. Here are some of the results.

Squared

SQUARED Although most of my photographic activity is done with 35mm ca ...

Updated: May 25, 2012 8:16am PST

Latin America & God : LATIN AMERICA & GOD I was educated in a Catholic institute, where I was sent to do my school and high school. After many years listening to monks' preachings on ethics and moral comparing them with their daily personal behaviour, I eventually ended up as a non believer. Several years later, studying my contact prints, to my surprise I noticed that I had an unusual amount of pictures on religious subjects taken during my journeys along Latin America. With that unexpected hint, I decided to start an essay on popular religion in the continent, and found and read a lot of books on that topic and carried out several trips to remote religious festivals and sanctuaries. Though I wasn't particularly fond of the religious ceremonies or the priesthood, I respected the believers themselves. Now I realize that it was an essay far too complex to do it alone, specially given my limitations of time and budget, but I don't regret the effort, since other than having taken me to many surprisingly beautiful and fascinating places and situations, it allowed me to take a lot of nice pictures, some of which you can see here.

Latin America & God

LATIN AMERICA & GOD I was educated in a Catholic institute, where I wa ...

Updated: Mar 31, 2013 6:20am PST

At the Cafe : AT THE CAFE The Sorocabana cafe at Libertad Square in Montevideo opened its doors in 1939 and shut them definitively on December 19th, 1989, barely three years after suffering a devastating overnight fire. Around its round marble-topped wooden tables generations of customers sat with their cups of Brazilian coffee to discuss varying topics like politics, arts or the last news. It was the last redoubt of a certain kind of local Bohemia, left astray for ever after the cafe's final demise.

At the Cafe

AT THE CAFE The Sorocabana cafe at Libertad Square in Montevideo opene ...

Updated: Jan 11, 2012 11:00am PST

Cattle drivers : CATTLE DRIVERS This is a long term essay on the Uruguayan cattle drivers --locally known as 'troperos'-- I made between 1975 and 2008. In terms of finding those elusive descendants of the 'gauchos' in Uruguay's rather depopulated countryside, I had to go to the place where they forcibly had to gather, the cattle markets. Although I think that the series is still unfinished, I collected enough images to show the pictures. Some of the last photographs were made during an assignment for Agence France Presse.

Cattle drivers

CATTLE DRIVERS This is a long term essay on the Uruguayan cattle drive ...

Updated: Dec 02, 2011 2:21pm PST

Daily Pages : DAILY PAGES This series is about something all of us the more or less do: reading newspapers. Every time I arrive in a foreign country I try to check the local press in a language I can understand (I speak several, but it isn't always easy). Photographing people immersed in those paper windows peeping at the world around them, is like taking snapshots of myself. A few of these images were exhibited in the Spanish Cultural Center (CCE) in Montevideo in 2008 and since then being shown in an itinerant exhibition all around Uruguay.

Daily Pages

DAILY PAGES This series is about something all of us the more or less ...

Updated: Dec 08, 2012 5:08am PST

password protected gallery

PUERTO

Imágenes del Puerto de Montevideo

Updated: Jul 16, 2012 11:22am PST

The photographs displayed in this website are purposely low-resolution. To buy digital images for publishing or high quality prints, please contact me. Unless stated otherwise, all pictures are copyright © Panta Astiazaran ---------- panta.astiazaran@gmail.com