Friday, November 19, 2010

Influences 1

Virgílio Ferreira

I am intrigued by the images of the Portuguese photographer, Virgílio Ferreira. His series of portraits, Daily Pilgrims, completed over several separate journeys across Asia, show images of anonymous people in various urban settings. The people who have been photographed are all out of focus, creating a project with a characteristic outlandish feel, while at the same time challenging conventional street photography. The blurriness and the lack of information produce, in my view, enigmatic photographs that evoke a sense of solitude and alienation that can sometimes be associated with large cities. Even though Ferreira’s images do not document locations and people in a traditional manner, they nonetheless document by original means the atmosphere, feelings and impressions of Asia, which in my opinion, are as relevant as any so-called journalistic documentary. With that said, some of Ferreira’s expositions, such as “WE and the Others”, left me completely indifferent. What makes an image that either captures our attention or not? Hard to say…


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