top image: principio de simetria

 

 

 

the spanish artist pablo genovés currently splits his time between madrid and berlin. his best known work sees him digitally montage vintage photographs of grandiose man made environments with overwhelming natural elements, namely water – leading the viewer to question the relationship between man and nature, creation and destruction.

 

 

DB: please can you tell us about your background and what made you want to be a photographer / artist?
PG: my father is a painter and I started taking pictures of his work when I was sixteen. I also took photos of motocross events, of which I was a fan. later on I worked for a photo studio that mainly did publicity work, it was there I learned a lot about technique. all of this was before the days of digital cameras.
 

 

 

 

 

VientoenPalacioWEB+
vientoen palacio

 

 

 

 

Otra BibliotecaWEB+
otra biblioteca

 

 

 

 

DB: how would you describe your work to someone unfamiliar with it?
PG: I take old images and work with them, sometimes I mix them up with my own photos. the subjects of water and flooding are always constant in my work. also climate change and the mark left by humans on the earth. another recurring subject is art and culture and its constant evolution confronted with nature.

 

 

DB: who or what has been the biggest single influence on your work?
PG: at the present moment I am revisiting the photographic greats that influenced me when I first started out: anselm adams, avedon, horst, arbus, weegee, mappelthorpe, halsman, friedlander…

 

 

 

 

 

LaVidaEternaWEB+
la vida eterna

 

 

 

 

LaCalidezDelSubsueloWEB+
la calidez del subsuelo

 

 

 

 

 

DB: what brought about the series ‘precipitados’, ‘cronologia del ruido’ and ‘antropoceno’?
PG: when I moved to berlin I discovered lots of old photos which had found their way onto the street markets. they were very useful to me at that time. I stumbled upon an artistic path which has evolved over the years.

 

 

DB: how would you describe the evolution in your work?
PG: all the ideas I start with end up evolving during the artistic process until they end up gelling into their own identity which would have been impossible to plan beforehand. i believe that an artist more than create, begins a dialogue. for me the most interesting part of creative work is realizing that you are just an instrument and to learn how to be this instrument. to be open and to let the energy emanate from your work. using photographs by anonymous photographers; photos condemned to disappear; photos from over a hundred years ago which have passed from hand to hand and which I have found in street markets where they have been open to the elements are very stimulating. the idea of this work being rescued and given a longer life, allowing it back into circulation, to contextualize it and to allow these photos to carry on telling their story is all part of the process.

 

 

 

 

 

Juicio FinalWEB+
juicio final

 

 

 

El museoWEB+
el museo

 

 

 

 

DB: what currently fascinates you and how is it feeding into your work?
PG: I am currently taking pictures with analog cameras and the way you take these pictures is much more mental, you have to choose your shoot much more carefully.

 

 

DB: do you have any superstitious beliefs or rules that you live / work by?
PG: my work process is very methodical and obsessive, almost maniacal. I repeat a ritual, a routine. in spite of living with my work every day I don’t start to work until 5pm. after sleeping with the music on I wake up have a cup of tea and with the music still on in the background I start to work. always with music. music has an important role in my creative work. it allows me  to become distracted, to tone down my obsession which my work inevitably causes and not to attack it head on but to come to it from an angle.

I always work on several images at the same time and jump from one to the other, I play with many images simultaneously and let them become intermingled as if they were their own beings, as if I could talk to them. I combine them with photoshop but in a very simple, basic way as if i were using scissors, digital scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

Das GerichtWEB+
das gericht

 

 

 

 

BóreasVientoDelNorteWEB+
bóreas viento del norte

 

 

 

 

BarrocoyExteriorWEB+
barrocoy exterior

 

 

 

 

DB: what’s your personal motto?
PG: keep going… on and on.

 

 

DB: what would you like to achieve before the end of 2014?
PG: a good rhythm with very little stress.

 

 

DB: what’s the biggest lesson you have learned since you started taking photographs?
PG: be constant, patient and fanatical about your creative possibilities.