Tell us a little about yourself
My name is Claudio Troncoso Rojas, I am an architect and photographer, am currently working on several projects related to the visual arts, both individually (www.claudiotroncosorojas.com) and collectively, being general producer in the cultural corporation Ultra (www.proyectoultra.com ). Additionally I teach at the University of Chile of a course that links urbanism with film or audio-visual media.I studied architecture at the University of Chile and visual arts at the University of Barcelona, and also I am co-founder and co-editor of thehttp://timeofthethieves.tumblr.com/ pages andhttp://www.thieveseditors.com/ where we present the work of photographers from around the world, along with an interview of each of them. Additionally we have develop various photographic projects in digital and print publications. Currently I live and work in Santiago, Chile.
When did you start taking photos?
I started taking pictures when I was in college, first with negative, later with digital cameras. I did it only as a way to record material for various courses in my studies of architecture, in that sense it was a very instrumental practice, without a search beyond that.Years later I went to live in Barcelona to studying a Master of Fine Arts degree so I started using the camera as a real tool for different projects; at that point I started to take pictures with more sense to me.
Who were the first artists that you found inspiring?
I really like the work of Lindergard Inka and Niclas Holmstrom, or the Japanese photographers Takashi Yasumura, Katsumi Omori, Mai Chaya, Rinko Kawauchi and the flower artist Makoto Azuma. I love the night flowers of David Axelbank and the Kudzu Project of Helene Schmitz. I am also very interested in the work of artists who work with the notion of space or landscape as Walter De Maria, Dennis Oppenheim, Robert Smithson or Olafur Eliasson. Or Andrei Tarkovsky Polaroids, in addition to his films. The truth is that it would be difficult to list the number of people in whom one is inspired, both established authors as well known artists.
What type of camera(s) do you shoot with?
I currently work with two cameras, both film. The first is a 35mm camera Nikon F3, that I carry with me everywhere (it is a camera which I love, is a model just before Nikon started making cameras almost entirely of plastic, and was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the designer of the DeLorean from “back to the future”). My other camera is a FujiFilm GW609 II, which is a medium format rangefinder camera, which has one of the largest sizes in medium format, the 6x9.
Do you travel to take photos or do you photograph as you travel?
Currently I make photographs when I’m traveling, and is an important part of my trips, usually I prepare a project related to each location where I go. You could say that every trip I’ve done in the last five years have a associate project, however small.
What makes the good picture stand out from the average?
For me, what makes a photograph highlight of the others is the ability to show a scene of something that I can feel close, but located in a different context, both physically and conceptually. The truth is that I feel that this can be manifested in many forms in an image, and with infinite themes. It is not something that has to do with beauty or necessarily shocking, has to do with recognition and strangeness of something at the same time.
Do you have a favourite photography website/magazine?
My interests in magazines and websites go beyond the photographic subjects, but certainly everything I see may contain photographic content. My favorites are:
http://www.freundevonfreunden.com/
http://cargocollective.com/gallery
http://unseentactics.tumblr.com
http://www.atlas-of-forms.net/
What are the ingredients for success with photography?
I think that the success in the action of capture an photographic image has to do with the habit of constantly looking. Depending on the project the search can lead you to themes or places you did not expect, and often can take you nowhere. I think that initially, the “idea” is very important to me when I move in this photographic search. On one level it does not matter the place where you go, what matters is the conceptual filter in that I focus on the place that I visit. On the other hand even if I say that the place is not at all important, I love to travel and go places I do not know, the possibility of discover landscapes and spaces that I not expected.But I always feel that the most important thing is not to find a particular image, but search with an idea, a concept, a point of view.
Describe your style in 3 words.
Botanical, archaeological and ominous.
What does photography mean to you?
For me, photography has the sense in the act of find and show something, a situation that it is not obvious, that is hidden. It also has to do with memory, and with a projection into the future as you can develop a myriad of themes; they can create realities that are unknown, set up discussions and motivate talks that brings you to another level of knowledge and perception.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I am working on two photographic projects; On one hand I’m making a photographic record of the San Cristobal hill, that is the largest metropolitan park of Chile, I want to show this space as a natural center from which you can see the large urban area of Santiago; In addition to that, my other project is to photograph the waste of trees and plants pruned in the city, and its result that could be unintentional and temporary plant arrangements adorning the streets.I’m also putting together a photography studio (Troncoso Rojas Estudios) and working as general producer of the cultural corporationUltra(www.proyecto ultra.com) in which we are developing art projects in the streets of Santiago.
