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JUAN BARTE

be inspired

ARTIST'S STATEMENT //

I am a fine art photographer, editor, and cultural manager. Born and raised in La Rioja, Spain, my career has led me to live in places like Los Angeles, Tokyo, Vientiane, Ibiza, or Madrid. In the past, I have developed my career in graphic design. However, photography was always one of my main interests, so in 2014 I started to fully devote myself to this “obsession”.

I involve the subjects of my photography in the process of the work. My goal is to reorder experience rather than simply document it and bend appearances to match my subjective narrative priorities. The resulting images are caught in a tension between the staged story and the testimonial record, imbued with fantasy as much as reality, unreliable and open-ended, thus reflecting the instability of our times.

When I take a photograph, I close the shot on the subject by getting very close and isolating the details. This approach results in those details acquiring an autonomous presence. They are no longer just identifying the subject, but rather they become "beings" in their own right. This process involves separating the image from its subject, so we no longer recognize a specific person, but instead see a fragment that serves me, as the author, to convey what I want to narrate and tell.

Furthermore, when there is no subject to direct and channel our gaze, there is a great amount of detail that captures our attention, allowing for a wider range of possible interpretations, readings, and meanings. In this way, seeing becomes an active process, a shared experience between the author and the audience.

My photography projects may last for years, with constant contact with the depicted subjects. This working process gives the pictures a natural intimacy that denies the audience the mere observer’s safe distance, all the while portraying a more complex and diverse representation of the world.

My work has been widely published in specialized media and exhibited in both galleries and public institutions. I also co-coordinate the Photobook Club Madrid actively promoting the spread of photography culture through different events. In addition, I edit and design photo books and catalogues for fellow photographers.

LOCATION

Madrid SPAIN

CAMERA

Nikon

CATEGORY

portrait

WEBSITE

@JUAN.BARTE

@JUAN.BARTE

FEATURES //

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