OMBRE ET LUMIERE. Photographie moderne mexicaine Du 10/11 au 25/2/11 - Instituto Cultural de México - Mois de la Photo à Paris, novembre 2010 Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Agustín Jiménez et Luis Márquez by craniv boyd.

OMBRE ET LUMIERE. Photographie moderne mexicaine Du 10/11 au 25/2/11 - Instituto Cultural de México - Mois de la Photo à Paris, novembre 2010 Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Agustín Jiménez et Luis Márquez by craniv boyd.

 

 

On the timeline between the silver gelatin print and the 12 mega-pixel camera stands Pêcheurs de nuages "cloud catcher" a photograph taken by Luis Márquez in 1939 of a Mexican Man that has since gone. The white national costume that is often illustrated by the murals of Sisqueros, Orozco and Rivera is seen here worn in the common place on a man with a net walking against a cloud-filled sky. His costume is not the heroic attire of the Mexican revolutionary set in pigment and lime in a social realist mural alla fresco, it is fact, fact as recorded by an analogue camera taking an exposure on a black and white thirty five millimeter film stock.

 

There are some who can ascertain by visual hallmarks of a photographic print alone whether or not the exposure was taken by a range finder or a single reflex lens, I am not one of them, however I would hazard a guess informed by the 1930-s vintage that Pêcheurs de nuages was taken with a range finder style camera Lieca more than likely. The now less common range finder is a make of camera that affords the photographer more mobility, the absence of prism or mirrors in the viewing mechanism allows for more discrepancies between what the photographer sees in the viewfinder and the vantage the lens exposes for the negative. Taking pictures with a range finder is an exercise in approximation taxing both the imagination and the ability of letting go for which a photographer is rewarded in lighter camera weight and increased durability without any downgrades in 35mm format.

 

The striking quality of commonplace and momentary events: recording a sunset with cloud cover in a barren coastal landscape. A fisherman done for the day takes his large net carrying it over his left shoulder the long pole of the net is balanced left hand extended forward shoulder at the fulcrum and the net behind the man in a sombrero hanging limp yet catching his unexpected prey of cumuli. Luis Márquez the author of this photograph the chance encounter with his poetic title creates a visual pun that speaks to cloying induced by ambition or hubris of mankind. In 1939 who could really be said to be capable of catching a cloud? Mankind subsequently invents a way to synthetically induce precipitation. The Mexican in the photograph may not have risen the day he was photographed with the intention of catching clouds, it could be difficult to ask him today, yet this activity is what we can observe today a fraction of a second the moment it takes to think about taking the next step on the way home as you carry a fishing net over your shoulder. By craniv boyd.