José Mancía

pain of old wounds (ii)

The human condition is complicated and at times brutal, and so much of photography simplifies and reduces subjects and events to consumable and legible evidence of objective record. This series of photographs is concerned with destabilizing the notion that photographs, especially brutal photographs, must communicate as straight, objective proof of a subject or event. I am trying to shape the contours of a language of brutal images that is defocused on photographic truth.I have always felt uneasy about photographs that depict conflict, suffering, or struggle, a conflict compounded by the fact that there are photographs of this kind that I’m invariably drawn to – whether conceptually, technically or out of a humanistic notion of keeping up with world events. Brutal images are the strongest reminder that photography is not a neutral act producing neutral results. As a viewer my first question is usually: “should I be looking at this?”; as an image maker my first question is usually: “how did the photographer make this?”. I think my reaction as a viewer stems from that sense of despondency that can arise when viewership begins to feel like voyeurism. In considering my response as a photographer I think my main concern is my interest in the way authors reconcile with the reality of their proximity to subjects and to suffering. Photography operates in part on its ability to manipulate proximity to people and events. I think that how an author chooses to mediate our sense of proximity to the subjects of photographs is what causes us to be influenced by and despite being sometimes brutal - to love images.