Photographer Vivian Del Rio: I am the director of my own world

Photography for me is a possibility to observe and be surprised, but mostly it is a possibility to come to terms with this world, to find some attractive moments in it and to make a mosaic out of them. Every time it is surprising that the world I create is close to someone, that people find in it something in tune with their thoughts and feelings, and this can not but rejoice.

1. “Graphics.”. New York. December 2011

Color is everywhere, you just have to see it

I must admit right away that I’m a very lazy artist. Instead of stretching canvas and squeezing paint, I just take my camera, press the button and immediately get the result. I love progress and everything invented by lazy people like me: dishwashers, washing machines, robot vacuum cleaners and other computers! That’s what I do. Especially when the sun is shining, it makes the colors of my surroundings more vivid, and that’s very important for me. I go out and walk sometimes up to twenty kilometers a day in search of good shots. I try to have my camera with me all the time, even if I’m going to the pharmacy or to a business meeting.

Apparently it all started when I was taken away to Cuba at an unconscious age. It was there that I developed a love for vibrant color combinations, and have consistently used them in my work since, both in painting, magazine illustration, and now in photography. And I learned to find color in any place I went, whether in New York, Irkutsk, Rostov-on-Don or anywhere else. At first people were surprised and could not believe that in their cities there is such a.

Since my very first exhibition I heard questions about image manipulation and Photoshop, but then everyone got used to it, especially after I began teaching “Color in Photography” at the School of Visual Arts. There and at visiting master classes I teach others to see color. It turned out that many people do not see it, because they simply do not pay attention, for most people it is more important story, the literary side. But if you think about it, the understanding of what happens comes only after we saw and felt something. But I think that everything in photography is important: the subject, the composition, the color. I won’t capture the most amazing thing if I don’t see the whole picture. That is, with a camera in my hands I am still an artist, solving, above all, artistic problems. For example, I try to treat the plane very carefully, because it is two-dimensional, and the image that appears on it is only an illusion of three-dimensionality. That’s why I build up the space in the frame in such a way that I create the scene where the action takes place. It’s important to me that the story I’m capturing fits into a single frame and that there’s not even a hint of something beyond it. Each frame for me is an accomplished work of art. Another shot is another story. This is probably why I do street photography, not reportage or journalism, which is about transmitting events and telling what’s going on in the world, in the country. I am a director of my own world, even if my pictures are quite documentary and realistic.

Photographer Vivian del Rio

Vivian Del Rio – artist, designer, photographer, member of New York Artists Union and American Union of Photo Artists. Born in New York. I spent my childhood with my parents in Cuba. I studied at the New York State University of Printing Arts in the artistic department as a graphic artist. Graduated from Carmarthenshire College of Technology and Art Great Britain as a student.Photography, painting, illustration, design. The author of “Unconscious Painting”, “Greening” and “Habana + New York”. Her work has been shown many times at solo and group exhibitions. Lives and works in New York.

Havana plus New York

I often get accused of not knowing where my photos are taken. They can be from Paris, Berlin, New York or Cuba with equal success. This is the basis for my book “Habana + New York”, which has just been published by FotoKarta Publishing House. I think it’s not important what, where, and what a person shoots with. What’s important is his personality, and what he wants to say to people around him. What really matters is the subjective view of each individual photographer. The book is built on the juxtaposition of two native cities: in one I was born and lived all my conscious life, in the other only my early childhood. I look, compare, analyze, and find that the manifestations of life in the two capitals are extremely similar and that people are people, only the conditions in which they find themselves are different.

Here’s an episode I saw in England: very prim men and women were standing on the platform, waiting for the train. But all of a sudden a train came in with far fewer carriages than usual. What happened to the English? They were instantly transformed: shoving and pissed off, they took their seats. Circumstances changed and immediately behavior and people changed. And the circumstances can include clay soils, too much humidity, eight months of winter, scorching sun… and much more.

Photography is an opportunity to observe and wonder

I recently found myself in a city I hadn’t been to in five years and was very bad at navigating. But I was surprised to find that this house, and this one, and this booth, and this window… And by those “serifs” I got to the right place. It turns out that photography is not only the proof of existence: “I was here, I saw it”, but also an opportunity to fix, to remember such details, which in normal life remain unnoticed. It’s like an extra memory. When I look at my photos, I remember with whom, when and where they were taken, and sometimes even smells, sounds and words. In addition, I get to consider the smallest details that mystically begin to rhyme and add extra meaning to the image.

I am so glad that finally a digital camera has been invented, because it doesn’t limit the number of shots I can take: I don’t have to worry about ruining something or running out of film. For me it’s a kind of freedom, when I don’t have to think about the material, but have the opportunity to fully immerse myself in observation and contemplation.

2. “Transition” from “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” series. New York. September, 2008

Of course, being a photographer has changed my life a lot, but also my character. I became much more confident, even brazen. It became much easier for me to communicate with strangers, and eventually with people I know. I got out of the house, started traveling a lot, saw places I would never have gone to without a camera. I’ve become super observant, and I’ve developed a quick reaction time. And I’m very happy all this happened to me, is happening and hopefully will happen in the future.

3. Junior high school students. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

Of course, taking photography has greatly changed not only my life, but also my character. I’m much more confident, even brazen. It became much easier for me to communicate with strangers, and eventually with people I know. I got away from home, travelled a lot, saw some places I wouldn’t have gone to without my camera. I’ve become super observant, and I’ve developed a quick reaction time. And I’m very happy that all of this has happened to me, is happening and hopefully will happen in the future.

4. “The View”. A Girl on Public Transportation. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

5. Schoolchildren at the snackbar. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

6. “The View” from “Behind the Glass” series. New York. October, 2008

7. Green Wall. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

8. A street beggar. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

9. “It’s Time” from “Men in Pink” series. New York. April, 2008

10. Working Midday. Havana. Cuba. February, 2014

11 “What’s Beyond New York?”. New York. June, 2013

12. “Happy New Year, Happy New Happiness”. January 1, 2013. New York. Red Square.