The raison d'être of this blog is to review quality books, music, photography and other content that is seldom brought to our attention by the mainstream media.

The title EV+1 is photographic jargon for Exposure Value plus 1: increasing exposure by one stop from the metered value. Photographers use exposure compensation in order to obtain a correct exposure, when the light meter's averaged reading would be incorrect. Like a photographer allowing an extra stop of light to reach the film, I hope to shed a little light on a few under-appreciated gems.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Chema Madoz

The work of Spanish photographer Chema Madoz is astounding. Every image reveals an inventive mind that thrives on visual incongruities and puns. His images instil a sense of wonder in the viewer; one is repeatedly left with the thought: how ever did he think of that?

A seemingly infinite imagination accompanied with a mastery of minimalist composition, seamless integration of unlikely elements and humour characterise his work. One repeatedly smiles at his wit and is awestruck by his anarchic flights of fantasy.

The humblest piece of equipment in the photographer's kit is usually the imagination. A mind that can dream beyond the obvious, question the nature of things; a mind that is curious enough to look closely and to return to a subject repeatedly, evolving a philosophy of seeing and interpreting, refining a concept to conceive the most succinct way of representing an idea, has the qualities to produce a great body of work. Chema Madoz clearly has these qualities and so has achieved an originality and clarity of vision rarely seen.

Biography

Born in 1958, Madoz is based in Madrid. He studied in the photographic workshops of the Fine Arts Academy of Madrid and studied Art History at the Complutense University of Madrid, also undertaking photography courses at the Image Teaching Centre.

His first solo exhibition was in 1983. Since then, he has won several awards: the Kodak Spain Prize (1991), the National Photography Award (2000), the Higasikawa Overseas Photographer Prize from the Higasikawa PhotoFestival (Japan) (2000) and the PhotoEspaña Award (2000). He has been widely exhibited internationally and his work is held in many public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museo Marugame, Hirai, Japan; and Museo de Bellas Artes de Buenos Aires.

He has compiled several books (many available only in Spanish), but those on a budget wishing to have an introduction to his key images will be attracted to the small Chema Madoz Biblioteca Photobolsillo edition, priced at NZ$19.39 (including freight) at The Book Depository.

Links
Chema Madoz website
haha.nu blogzine
boredpanda.com
pinterest

All images © Chema Madoz.













Posted by Richard Smallfield at 11:06 AM 0 comments
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