Madrid’s Galería Caylus is for the first time hosting a photography exhibition by a Spanish photographer, Lux Oxidada (Rusted Light) by Fernando Manso (born in Madrid in 1961) — rust and light being the two distinct elements which form the common thread running through the photographs.
Fernando Manso, in this exhibition, is essentially immortalizing select moments that he has managed to capture when certain specific conditions — stipulated by himself — were met, something which at times has made him wait an incredibly long time for the exact moment to present itself.
Other photographs require his own personal intervention, added to the set of natural requirements which he must wait for, in order to obtain just the right balance and harmony that he wants to express to his viewers.
Manso introduces one of his own techniques to the immediacy of the photographic medium: he explained to me that of two copies of a photograph, one is sharp and realistic, and the other is left to suffer the effects of weather, creating an entirely new and beautiful vision of the world.
After the camera itself (in this case a camera with bellows for focusing), the next most important element of photography is the vision of the photographer. And then, of course, there’s the level of creativity in the composition.
I loved this exhibition — I found that it truly lived up to the poetry of its title. The peace and loneliness of its landscapes of white veil woods; the cold beauty of the Palacio de Cristal’s glass and metal; the romanticism of its stone monuments, mould and light some, fog and magic others; taverns full of rust and nostalgia, nostalgia suspended in the air all around.
Fernando Manso, a photographer of beauty and of sensations, began his career two decades ago. The attraction, I think, lies in how close photography and painting are in his work. He has edited five books and his photos have travelled in exhibitions around the world. I strongly recommend a visit to the gallery and the ensuing journey that visitors will embark on through his work, the work of a great painter of beauty.
FERNANDO MANSO
"LUZ OXIDADA”
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - Friday, April 4, 2014
Calle de Lagasca, 28 28001 MadridSpain
