For someone who cares deeply about beauty, photography ends up being a dance, a captivating, imprecise and unpredictable ballet. Seeing Javier Márquez work is like watching him dance ballet with the camera, tête-à-tête. Specialized in fashion photography, he also works well in design settings or even among nature. RI HOUSE now presents two exclusive series of his photographs in which, through flowers and architecture, he confronts the viewer with the passage of time, the instant moment and the beauty.
WHY IS BEAUTY SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT?
It is something subjective, because in reality, why is beauty important? Beauty is around us in our daily life and it belongs to each one’s gaze. We see it in unexpected places and we approach it in a great variety of ways. It’s funny how sometimes, the things that one interprets as the most beautiful are the ones that society pays less attention to. In my view, beauty is important, but at the same time it consists of looking for beatiful things in more inhospitable environments. It’s like looking for a portrait in the least expected place and having someone looking back at you.
IN YOUR WORK, WHEN DO YOU CONNECT BEAUTY WITH FLOWERS?
I find a metamorphosis in flowers and plants. I have the feeling while taking pictures of them they are changing and transforming. That period of transformation inspires me to continue in a work of constant evolution. A single flower has thousands of tonal registers, but they expire quickly and you only have a limited time to capture its beauty. It is something that is being transformed in time and it is instantaneous. Something in part even agonizing, because if you do not capture the perfect moment, you have the certainty that you will lose it forever and that flower will never be the same again.
AND THE PROCESS UNTIL GETTING THERE, HOW IS IT?
The process usually begins as something more destructive than constructive, since the beginnings are inevitably always linked to a certain uncertainty. However, once the first image and the results emerge, a relationship with the object is triggered and in a spontaneously and more improvised way, emerge some images that, without having been agreed, are more powerful than the inspiration itself. It is curious how many of the failures in shot turns into the best images. Something that a priori seems a discard becomes a snapshot that, in a relaxed way, manages to convey much more than the sought image.
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN WITH THE SERIES ‘RETURN TO THE CITY’?
It is a subjective and very personal vision of the new city. I was looking to approach cities with an abstract and optimistic tone while having a strong intention in shapes and color.
IS THERE ANY PLACE OR ANY CITY THAT HAS CHANGED YOUR POINT OF VIEW?
I was always inspired by the proximity to the sea and the land where I have never been from. Although it sounds strange in part, in the course of my life I have felt more about other places than the place where I grew up. I know that part of who I am on a photographic level has to do with where I grew up and to which I am grateful. But, sometimes, I feel that my photography would be different if I’d grown up in a place near the sea. I just miss it and it never even happened.
WHAT IS YOUR SPACE LIKE, THE SPACE YOU LOVE?
The space that I love is a space in which order and harmony prevail. It is a place of light, fleeing from the typical, the natural light that allows me to look at reality honestly from day to day. A place of simple shapes, without too much decorum. Without too many elements, that it could be lend to easy transformations. But on the other hand, I feel that this place can have many representations. Just as I like to take many types of photographs, I also like to dream myself in different places. From a city apartment to a country house. By human condition, I need to experience the sensation of being in different places, because it is something that nourishes me and makes me perceive reality differently and learn from it. The perfect place is in the change, in enjoying each of these stages.
