As a Spanish artistic collective founded in 2003, Blank Paper set itself the challenge of working in a country shaken by a major economic crisis while putting everything into photography. The exhibition showing their latest creations testifies to a formidable energy.
In just a handful of years, independent Spanish photographers have produced a body of original work and a dynamic distribution network. Their strength? The individual yet collegial nature of their output. “When we get together we don’t propose collective projects, but we do try and enrich the work of each person”, explains Ricardo Cases, a photographer for Blank Paper. He’s also part of the exhibition Stories of the Immediate Present, Focus on the Madrid Scene, presented at the Rencontres d’Arles along with his series “Estudio Elemental del Levante”. In the different artworks produced by the collective it’s possible to make out an analytical approach to the photographic medium that pays attention to its limits and possibilities. “I want to understand form through photography”, says Alejandro Marote. The photographer has freed himself from colour to capture the visual effects produced by light on surfaces. His series “A”, which is also being shown at Arles, is a study of the urban environment in search of “pure form”.
Working with contraints
Central to the collective is a common reflection on human existence, uncertainty about the future and the flaws of our era. The photographers’ outlook isn’t limited to contemporary Spain; they claim a global vision, with themes and subjects that go beyond any local identity. By focusing on the surrounds of a train station in Madrid, David Hornillos’ photos immortalise a universe outside of time and space. His new series, “Ustedes Los Vivos” (“You the Living”), is the second chapter of “Mediodía” (“Midday”), his previous piece of work. Hornillos focuses on a precise location and photographs it at several points during the day. The result is a procession of people all filing past an immobile backdrop, where the opaque grey of the ground collides with the blue of the sky. “I like to work with constraints I impose on myself”, says Hornillos. “And I like cleanliness and the aesthetic I obtain by working in this manner”. Antonio Xoubanova, one of the founders of the collective, also plays with constraints. His book Un Universo Pequeño questions the relationship between space, time and matter along ten metres of street in Madrid. The size of each photo is proportional to the exposure time of the shot. “That’s the time contained in each photo”, explains the photographer. In total, the 250 images in the book “last” around two seconds. “Ricardo Cases calls this beautiful project a ‘two-second feature film’, and I really like that expression”, says Xoubanova. This statement speaks to us of the participative nature of the work. “Because of its integration and inclination for sharing, Blank Paper has revitalised photography in Spain”, explains Sonia Berger, one of the exhibition curators (along with Joan Fontcuberta, Anna Planas and Pierre Hourquet). The team from Blank Paper opened a photography school in Madrid in 2006, a logical and coherent next step, given their conviction that dialogue is the real fuel of artistic creation.
Images © the artists
