Chema Madoz

Chema Madoz , actually José María Rodríguez Madoz , (born January 20, 1958 in Madrid ), is a Spanish photographer .

biography

From 1980 to 1983 Madoz studied art history at the Complutense University in Madrid and at the same time attended photography courses at the Centro de Enseñanza de la Imagen. In 1985 he had his first solo exhibition at the Real Sociedad Fotográfica in Madrid, and another in 1988 as the opening exhibition of the Sala Minerva des Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid).

In 1990 he began to develop his current theme of surprising objects. In 1991, some of his works were shown in an exhibition of contemporary photography at the Reina Sofía Art Museum, which traveled through several countries. He also received the Premio Kodak España in the same year. In the following years he received an art scholarship and published two books. In 1999 solo exhibitions were shown in Santiago de Compostela and in the Reina Sofía Museum.

In 2000 he received the National Photography Prize of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Japanese Higasikawa Prize for foreign photographers and the Premio PHotoEspaña .

In his black and white photos, he shows everyday objects in surprising contexts that can appear surreal . With over 60 solo exhibitions and 8 books, he is recognized by the public and critics and has received various art prizes. His works can be found in the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) and the Museum of Fine Arts , Houston , among others .

To photography

Summary of statements from a conversation with Chema Madoz in April 2001 (Link Hispanart / Spanish Wikipedia article)

After several small and medium format cameras, he has been using a Hasselblad for his photos since 1991. In general, it is important to him to keep the technology in the background. Almost all of the photos were taken in natural light. Artificial light only plays a role in photos in which lamps are part of the picture or when a detail is to be made particularly visible.

In his first series of pictures, he took photos on the street and later began taking photos of his objects at home near a window in natural light. He set up a studio a relatively short time before the interview, but appreciates the faster work process and the opportunity to work on several projects at the same time.

He generally sees himself as a photographer who creates his objects only for the purpose of being photographed, but which cannot stand for themselves. Viewed from a different angle or as a whole, they usually lose their presence. Very few objects are convincing regardless of the photo, and a few exceptions are only interesting as an object, but lose their effect on the photo.

Web links

• Website with photos (Spanish / English)
• Exhibitions