Preserving the Unpreserved
“I am I, plus my surroundings, and if I do not preserve the latter, I do not preserve myself.” -José Ortega y Gasset, 1883-1955, Meditaciones del Quijote (1914)
I have always viewed photography
as a way to preserve or immortalize moments, gestures, people, situations, buildings, our way of living and nature. In short everything that constitutes our world with our different cultures and traditions as well as our heritage.
Among other things I’ve used my camera, to preserve through an image, historical buildings, and in some cases architectural treasures that have been condemned to ruin and destruction because of human neglect.
Throughout these years few of these buildings have actually been restored but most no longer exist or will disappear sometime in the near future to give way to new buildings or parking lots.
These images taken in different parts of the world, hope to raise awareness about our disregard with our past and the history of our different civilizations and will hopefully alert future generations to the importance of not only preserving our environment but our human legacy as well.
Most images were taken with black and white film, either Ilford HP5 or Kodak T-Max 100 and scanned with Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400, film scanner. I later applied –using Photoshop
— a platinum toning effect, simulating the photographic style that became famous in the early decades of the 20th century.
Abandoned Abbey and graveyard in an Irish village south of Dublin
Abandoned colonial church in NE Brazil,
