Word: alejosã
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Dates: during 2006-2006
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...Alejos?? best photographs succeed for reasons as diverse as his subject matter. Lighting is what makes “San Juan de Dios Hospital” a great photograph—the sun comes from three large windows, bounces off the plaster walls, and illuminates each immaculate hospital bed with gradually increasing intensity towards the back of the room. As the hospital beds recede, the hospital employees arc out from the rear of the room towards us, and their dress changes from the dark suits in the rear to white robes in the front...
...exhibit, “Peasants Gathered at Christmastime in front of the Mayor’s Office” combines the tempered cacophony of “Typical Nativity Scene” with the mixed attentions “Group of Peasants.” Alejos?? camera peers from above a town square upon thousands of peasants...
...tightly that for the majority we can see little more than a head. Part “Where’s Waldo,” part Jackson Pollock painting, this photograph throbs and pulses as if the viewer is standing in the center of the crowd. Just as in Alejos?? other photographs of gatherings, the viewer notes that the peasants are aware of the camera, but just as many look at their children, siblings, or friends. And even though the photograph includes so many people, almost every face is legible...
Whether or not Alejos?? was an “artist,” he certainly transcended the status of mere tradesman. His documentary photographs can be read not only as artifacts of pre-conflict Ayacucho, but also as confirmation of a coherent aesthetic. These two interpretations are impressively complementary. Rarely do the artistic aspects of his photographs interfere with their evidentiary qualities; more often, the composition, lighting, and perspectives of Alejos?? photographs elucidate relationships among the subjects and amplify the details...
...Retouched: The Photographs of Baldomero Alejos?? is open until June 1, 2006 at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies in the CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street and at the Center for Latino Arts, 85 W. Newton Street, Boston...