STEMS
BY CLÁUDIO REIS
Cláudio Reis was born in Vila do Conde, Portugal. He has an Architecture background, and since 2008 has been freelancer in illustration, digital visualization and photography. At the present moment he is finishing a Masters in Photography, at the Escola das Artes, Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), Porto, Portugal.
His work has been distinguished and selected for several exhibitions and associated publications, more recently "Ancrages", Espace 6 Elzévir, Paris, 2013; and the First prize of the "Cityscopio International Photography Narrative Contest Cityscopio", 2013, with his series "Intermission", which had the city and the territory of Guimarães as main subject for a reflection on the impact and meaning of the event European Capital of Culture (CEC) 2012.
"Stems" acknowledges a society predominantly moved by visual stimulus, where every person is both an active photographer and a passive subject. As each minute passes by, pictures are taken, readily uploaded, tagged, shared, and forgotten. Conversely, this is not an innocent process. A mark has been made. In "Stems", each picture is found through a specific noun, verb or adjective. The images are then stripped down to their visual essence as to merge form, color and light, compressing the difference between surface and substance. Rooted in the language, yet visually nameless, they are no longer compelled to overtly simulate reality, perhaps blossoming into something completely unexpected. One never knows.