Life in death

There are photographs that insist on treading the thorniest, least obvious paths. These kinds of photos revel in provocation, suggestion, irony and artfulness, without ever having to resort to floral gameplaying or Baroque zigzags. This is not about taking the bend at speed to see if the vehicle can take it; it’s about taking the bend just for the pleasure of the skid, to go at the limit and watch the dust rising. Valter Vinagre is one of those photographers. They asked him for the breath of life and he gave them the gaping mouth of death. They asked him to take the pulse of nature and he gave them glassy eyes and tongues sticky with varnish. They asked him to celebrate the unstoppable dynamic of biological diversity and he gave them the monotony of taxidermy in its attempts to wound time, staunching it with a terrifying expression, with a body that is a mere capsule of nothing.
The series Pets (Animais de Estimação) acquired form (and life!) following an invitation to the collective kameraphoto to participate in the E.C0 2010 initiative in Madrid, which brought together photographs from twenty collectives from Europe and South America. And yes, in the midst of all the other images of living nature were these theatrical still life shots, which powerfully evoked a much broader idea of nature in all its infinitude and complexity.
There are photographs like that – which cannot be corrected. And that is for our good.

– A short conversation between Sérgio B. Gomes and Valter Vinagre about the exhibition Pets. May 2010.

The book “Animais de Estimação/Pets” by Valter Vinagre, published by Kameraphoto, has a special run of 50 copies, numbered and signed by the author with a photograph of 21,5cm X 21,5cm printed on Ultrasmooth Fine Art Paper. From today until the day of the exhibition/book launch, on March 7 2013, the buyer can choose his own printed photo from the seven that are available.

To see the available images, please click here:
http://www.kameraphoto.com/kgallery/exhibition.next.php?lang=en”>http://www.kameraphoto.com/kgallery/exhibition.next.php?lang=en