Single Matters (or not so single)

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(Le Mont Saint Michel, France-2008) © Flavio Martín Morante_2008

In the past few days I have found myself looking at a lot of photographs I have taken since I picked up a camera 14 years ago. The reason behind this is that I am trying to refresh my website, but also trying to refresh my eyes and also my memories. While doing this I have come across a lot of pictures, many of them which I am looking at a second time from a "different angle of the room". One thing that I find VERY interesting, and it is the reason for this post, but also for a deep self reflection, is what I called the orphan pictures or the academically correct called: Single Shots; pictures that did not find their way into any portfolio, project, series, special labeled folder, etc, but that still have qualities that enable them to stand by themselves

In my case, excluding photographs with touristic or anecdotical recording purposes mainly, most of my photographs attempt to point in the direction of mirrors that speak -and ask- about life and death, and some of their aspects (as it is the loneliness present on both, to give an example), as well as passing of time and memory. As time goes by (and after passing my third decade) this subjects and and how I feel about them have become some sort of main focus, but also a challenge to me on how to translate them visually in order to share and communicate effectively about and through them.

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(Lake Michigan, Wisconsin-2010) © Flavio Martín Morante_2010

As far as projects, I have found some satisfying output channels through my recent series Internal Exteriors and Preserved (which is an ongoing work), and some frustrating ones as it was to start photographing the Milwaukee River during one of the worst droughts in history; but is to look at these single pictures what it had me thinking a lot the last few days. Sadly, tendencies, trends and academic standards sometimes play badly against single shots, specially when they are created without a project in mind or if there is not intention to group them and labeled them under a fancy title and an elaborated statement. Still, I look at all of them (some examples been shared here) and I cannot avoid to think of them as part of a group, since I am the maker of them and also they reflect upon who I am, how I see and how I feel.

Considering those subjects of interest I mentioned before, and letting the viewer enter my own little world, I think it would be great someday to be able to do a photographic show (without falling into retrospectives) titled simply "Martín Morante_ Photographs".

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(Wisconsin- 2012) © Flavio Martín Morante_2012

I really would love to do a show like that.