This photo series, Passions, originates in the context of traditional religious festivals in Chile, South America. The celebrations generally include devotional rituals to ask for or pay mandas — a reciprocal agreement, in which the devotee offers a religious act in return for the religious figure's help in fulfilling a request.
These Catholic rituals and celebrations, predominantly originating in rural areas, have a strong tradition in Latin American documentary photography, and have long interested me, especially one particular aspect: the "trance" that manifests on the faces of the faithful.
Based on this physiological and psychological-spiritual data, I focused on photographing only the faces of these faithful as a way of detailing, quasi-geographically and materially, what happens when the body enters into a devotional experience. Technically speaking, I used a rather dry and harsh methodology for "educated" photographers — the use of a direct flash on the face and a long telephoto lens. This allowed the frame to be completely filled, "flattening" and decontextualizing the faces of the faithful.
The result could be interpreted as a small photographic inventory of the states or landscapes of passion.
Biography
Mauricio del Pino Valdivia, 1965, Viña del Mar, Chile.
I have been dedicated to photography for 25 years, as a teacher and professional photographer. With a degree in journalism, I have been editing and directing a website, fotogamia.com, for 15 years. Since 2004, I have been creating performance art. I have published four photography books and a photo novel: "El Lugar Nuestro" (Our Place), 2007, a recording of the former Valparaíso penitentiary "A photographic exploration of Sporting de Viña" (Sporting Team of Viña), 2011. "Areneros del Marga Marga" (Marga Sand Pits), 2016, "Fotogamia, 10 años. 2021" (Photogamy, 10 años. 2021)and "Confessions of a Provincial Artist" (2008). With documentary photography, I have moved on to other methods and perspectives on the medium.
www.fotogamia.com
www.instagram.com/elamorporlafotografia
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Mauricio, very interesting way to document the trance state. It was educational to read about this devotional rituals that happen in Chile. So much rich culture exists around the world, waiting to be explored and discovered. Thanks for bringing this story.