One of the things great poets can do is put words together in a way that makes you hear a phrase, maybe even a single word, in a way you never thought or felt. One of the things a great photographer can do is to make you see a scene or an object in a new way. That's what Spanish photographer Chema Madoz does -- he's a poet with a darkroom.
When you browse the galleries of his website, you'll see many familiar objects: a matchstick, a hat, plates, a loaf of bread. But each of those objects, in carefully composed black and white or sepia images, reveals a form or function you haven't seen -- the context is shifted or there's a surprising juxtaposition or a key detail is altered.
A ladder stands against a mirror. Those plates are in a rack, except the 'rack' is actually a sewer drain. A pair of wingtips seems to have neatly laced itself together, an image of fidelity that's both charming and strangely moving -- they're just old shoes after all.
Chema Madoz creates new things to see from our very own everyday world.
written on Friday Jun 22, 2007
soup,
art,
images.
