Honorable Mention

Time Capsules
DESCRIPTION
The Time Capsules Series, 2022, is composed by Macro Photographs that captures otherworldly landscapes.In my personal research on old family belongings, objects that could retain the past, I found 2 hand blown glass paperweights that belonged one to my father and other to my father-in-law, who left us last year. Father figures represented on blocks of blown glass, objects I carry with me as reminders of their presence in my life.
When using them in a still photography session, I noticed through the lens, their individual beauty, with several properties that could be investigated through Photography.
Then, through my Macro Lens, something beyond was revealed to me. The existence of those small bubbles inside, which, when enlarged, assumed a supernatural aspect, revealing fragments of encapsulated worlds, containing their own atmosphere, their air of the Past.
When that became clear to me, I started building this Collection in search of the “magical photospheres” these objects contained.
Sensitive images that evoke other Worlds, other Times.
Capsules that store air and encapsulated weight memories of the Past.
There are no digital manipulations in the composition on these images, just post production to transform RAW images with a digital darkroom approach to retouch, contrast and better equilibrate the final image. Although I like occasionally to interfere with the images, this Series brought me a new challenge to face the distortions caused by the bubbles inside the glass objects.
Seeing abstractions through my focused macro lens is a delightful way to build my images. Let the light trace the lines to follow, direct the gaze and reveal the sensations as we see, allowing the mystery of shadows, colors, contours and visible shapes of the new image to tell us its path.
Captured with my Canon 5D Mark IV - 100mm Macro Lens.
AUTHOR
Patrícia Abreu is a Visual Artist who mixes multiple techniques in the realization of her works. With a background in Graphic Design, Photography and professional experience in Art Direction for Dramaturgy, she moves fluently through different languages in her search for original expression. Themes concerning the natural world are constantly present in her work. She is currently focused on Macro Photography of natural environments which could be eventually digitally altered to achieve her artistic purposes. From her unique approach, she transforms her Botanical Macro Photographies into pieces of original imagery."During the COVID-19 Quarantine, I started shooting macros. At a time when everything seemed a little out of control, there was a sense of hope as I saw strength in those botanical tender images, that embody themes that were changing my world at that moment'"
In her new Series "Time Capsules", 2022, she directs her Macro Photography skills to capture light 'traveling' through old hand-blown paper glasses and Muranos from the family collection. Thus capturing impressions of movement in a state of inertia. A new approach to facing Time, Space and Memories through the lens of photographic practice Movements to reconnect with her Past, touching a style of visualized Future.
"Photography is a way of self expression that allows me to see, through the lens, a world without boundaries that lies within us. This process of close looking, reveals me new configurations, where shapes and colors play a leading role in telling stories not yet revealed."