The gravitational pull of art is inescapable. Great art elicits emotion and invites reflection. Mark Rothko once said that “there is no such thing as a good painting about nothing.” There is always something to feel and discover. When I experience great art today, I am carried back to the pure joy I felt growing up—wandering museums, losing hours poring over books on art and, especially, photography.
My father was an avid photography enthusiast. His Leica or Hasselblad cameras were always a part of our weekends or family outings. When I was fourteen, he handed me his M3 with a 50mm Summilux and encouraged me take picturs. The freedom I found with that camera ignited my lifelong love for photography and image making. I took that camera with me everywhere. On weekends, we would project my slides, and he’d offer gentle notes on composition and exposure. For each frame, he always asked me why I took the picture. Only later did I understand he was teaching me to be deliberate—to make photographs that carry feeling, not just record a scene.
When people ask what I photograph, I say that while I make images of people, places, and everyday life, what I am really after is capturing what I call “The Poetry of Light”. That is where shadow and light surrender to each other and create a felt sense of grace. I believe that one can make images of the light, one can make images with the light; I prefer to find images that are made by the light. These images become an expression of what it is to be human. What it means to be touched by joy or by sorrow; what it means to aspire, to fear, and to hope. These images create a sense of stillness in motion, of quiet and disquiet. When I make these images, I can feel time hold its breath, my past and present converge, and the image before me mirrors my soul. This is why I make an image.
Though I am largely self-taught, I have had the had the great fortune to learn from some outstanding photographers, two of which have become trusted mentors and friends. They’ve encouraged me to further my practice and to share my work beyond my immediate family and friends. This past December I published my first monograph, Susurros del Tiempo / Whispers of Time. It is a large format hardcover book of images of the Northern Californian coastline that explores our need to find moments of calm in the face of the entropic pull of time.
Photography allows me to experience life differently than I otherwise would. Moments, places, and experiences are never about nothing. Whether it is through the canvas or camera, there is always something to be felt and discovered.
– Juan Carlos Torres
