A “good” photo

By Jose Contreras.

A “good” photograph captures of a perfect moment where all the elements are where they should be, at least for ¼ of a second. That millisecond, full of so many compressed emotions and so many unconscious movements and thoughts, is perfectly synchronised with the sensations and emotions the photographer is feeling and going through at the very moment he presses the shutter button.

“I learned to appreciate photography as a spiritual act because the result is so subtle that it often goes beyond what the author himself can understand.”

Why are there photos that transmit so much in their simple complexity?

I learned to appreciate photography as a spiritual act because the result is so subtle that it often goes beyond what the author himself can understand. It is the result of an exhibition in which a moment is captured that is almost totally unconscious on the part of the author as well as the photographed, and is totally influenced by what each one has in the soul expressed in that same unconscious.

Understanding this concept we can speak analogously to spirituality with psychological processes, psychological processes occur in a subtle manifestation space and have a nature of almost 90% unconscious, or more, but that will influence the human being in its entirety and connects in the collective unconscious with the psychological processes of other people, that is to say the energy that emanates from the photographer makes a connection with the energy of the photographed and it is the photographer who will capture that unique and unconscious moment reflected in the person he is taking the photo of, right at the moment of pressing the shutter, the result is practically a mystery until it is observed for the first time on the screen or in the developed photo, the bad or good mood that the photographer is having at the moment of taking the photo is reflected in the photographed person.

In my opinion as a photographer, practicing in the most beautiful way is the consequence of having been able to face ourselves, bringing to consciousness all that which dominates us unconsciously, when the skill is embodied in the archetypal memory of the soul the result will always be favorable, but in the same way it is influenced by this "unconscious spiritual" mechanism as in every activity, when we face and transcend our shadows filling them with light, the result is automatically reflected in what we do, and in our case, we will be more aware of how light works in space time, we develop greater empathy and understanding about the emotions of our model, we have a better perception of the physical space at the time of framing, and in an almost magical way, each thing turns out to be right where it should be, almost like a perfect frame that transmits exactly what it should transmit, together with the most sincere look of a model who was able to have enough confidence to open up and let herself be seen in her entirety before a stranger, and accompanied by lighting that generates a dramatic or soft contrast that ends up enveloping me. All in one masterpiece and it is for this reason that my favourite photographic activity is portraits, since here is the moment in which we can express everything we have inside, perfectly reflected in the person we are photographing, and if the person or people are not aware of this, the conscious or unconscious gaze of the photographer can still be appreciated in the scene.

For this reason, one of my favourite photographers is the great Platon.

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