SOMBRA:
Photographs by Ruven Afanador
(BOOK)

JUNE 10 - JULY 31, 2004

THROCKMORTON FINE ART is proud to present our second exhibition of photographs by Ruven Afanador. Sombra, the Spanish word for shadow, is a fitting title for this most stunning collection of images, including male nudes, portrait photography, and still life tableaux.

The photographs for this exhibition were all done with the same backdrop and the natural type of light you would see in an artist’s studio in Europe. Afanador used the backdrop everywhere and brought the set with him wherever he traveled. The majority of the images were taken in Paris, Florence, Buenos Aires, and New York. Having been inspired by Man Ray and his early solarization process, many of the photographs in Sombra are solarized in different levels of intensity. Metal tones, primarily copper and gold are used in the printing process utilizing formulas found in early photography manuals. Most of the images are bleached before the toner is applied so they achieve a quality that makes them appear almost like drawings.

Afanador has always loved the feeling of glass negatives and the quality of romantic darkness found in the oval and other shapes of daguerreotypes. In those early days of photography, there was a different, more romanticized interpretation of how people had their photographs taken. Afanador wanted to recall that in Sombra, where the mix of content, coloring, and shapes of the framed images makes them timely while referencing the past. The photographs introduce a pre-Raphaelite idea, but within a contemporary framework.

A beautiful hardcover book will accompany the exhibition with an essay by Jean Paul Gaultier. It will be available through the gallery for $75.00 USD.