INTERVIEW BY DAVID POLLOCK
1. I think many of us outside of Spain imagine it as a warm sunny place. Most of the images were made on mostly overcast days. What is it about this diffused light that suits your purposes for the series ’Resistance Activities’.
«I live in a particularly sunny area in the east of Spain, where the light is too strong and harsh. I take pictures on cloudy days to avoid that kind of light. Also I prefer to take formally simple photos, to focus the attention on the object or subject that interests me. Cloudy or foggy days simplify details and noise and eliminate information that I consider unnecessary and distracting. The tone and color are also an important part nuances of of meaning, not only in appearance, also in the reading. This tonality helps me to communicate my idea clearly».
2. With ’Resistance Activities’, the concept of Entropy comes to mind. Entropy can be defined as ‘a process of degradation or a trend to disorder that ultimately leads to a state of inert uniformity’.
«In fact, this series has meanings that existed before the pictures where taken, though its significance is open enough to new readings. I’m also interested in these readings, although they are not the ones that motivated the work».
3. Could you give me some background to the title ‘Resistance Activities’. Please describe your thinking behind this interesting title for this series.
«‘Resistance Activities’ speaks of the relationship between human beings and the environment. The resistance to the elements and nature over time, and in the human intervention and, ultimately, resilience. Man is involved modifying the natural and reconfigures it with fences, rock excavation, roads, traffic signs, and other scarring, which eventually form an inseparable part of nature. Also photographs are objects that bear witness of a person, or a people enduring unfavorable conditions, in an attitude of passive resistance. I am interested in that attitude, intention to remain persistent in nature and human being, comparing, and showing how this relationship is reflected in the landscape. Do not try to see the attitude of the human being as aggressive nature, but as constantly changing behaviours and that are being reflected in the environment. The landscape is a result and testimony to this relationship, also beautiful. In fact, speaking of myself, my own ability to survive, but in a metaphorical way, this filter helps me to jump the barrier of shame».
4. Tell us about the process of editing. Did you work on one group at a time or does all the organizing and grouping come later?
«I work on the series, I keep on developing it and then I organize the images. But I feel very free with this work and I check it all the time. I repeat the route many times, I repeat the ideas, and also feature new photos or rule out others. The series are permanently in progress».
5. You are a commercial graphic designer yet design elements of your pictures are not emphasized. The composition is open and minimal. The pictures can seem to be documents of something monumental or sculptural.
«For me, photography has nothing to do with my work as a designer. The way to approach the work is very different, especially the intention. I have worked many years as art director of photography, as well as designer. It is inevitable to have a way of doing things, but I adapted them to each circumstance. Most of all, the motivation is different. It is true, I like to make a monuments from things which are not, and add value to everyday things. I think this is the real value of the photography, look at things in a certain way, to show others that way of seeing».
© All copyright remains with photographer Ibán Ramón