Sandra Pereznieto. Woman Photographer
15/10/2018.
Architecture Women Photographers in Spain Series. 7/11
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
Sandra Pereznieto, photographer halfway between her native country, Mexico, and her city of adoption, Barcelona, with a purely photographic training between Mexico and Spain.
Capital. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Court. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
X House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 3. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Low Michelet. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 1, Porto house. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 2, Porto house. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Memorial. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Burma House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Albino Ortega House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 1, Swiss house. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 2, Swiss house. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Series 3, Swiss house. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Burma House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Albino Ortega House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
L House. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Careyes. Photograph by © Sandra Pereznieto
Sandra Pereznieto, as she says, is tiny and yet what we have noticed in the realization of this article is that she is a true whirlwind. As soon as she is on this side of the Atlantic as she is on the other side, in the north or in the south.
Passionate about her work as a photographer, she likes to talk about the self-absorption produced by the shots of the spaces she photographs, of letting oneself be carried away by the time alone with the space in front of her, something that could make us to think that she forgets people that inhabits them. However, even if she does not realize or she does not want to tell us it, her photographs always have people or reflect the presence of people. Her photographs show the transformation of spaces in places thanks to the remains, the traces left by its inhabitants when their presence is not explicit, or when the presence of characters is intentionally distant, as if it were an impossible to avoid shadow.
Sandra takes as her reference impressive classics of photography such as Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman, and however, she is a classic in many media. He has a wide professional career of almost 30 years, which has allowed him to publish his photographs in many international journals, combining the projects of commissions with others more committed and personal.
It is possible that, as she says, her hands are small like her, and that's why for some jobs she likes her beloved Fuji machine. In any case it is something that does not prevent him from making great and magnificent photography shots. She represents a true show of passion for photography.
Passionate about her work as a photographer, she likes to talk about the self-absorption produced by the shots of the spaces she photographs, of letting oneself be carried away by the time alone with the space in front of her, something that could make us to think that she forgets people that inhabits them. However, even if she does not realize or she does not want to tell us it, her photographs always have people or reflect the presence of people. Her photographs show the transformation of spaces in places thanks to the remains, the traces left by its inhabitants when their presence is not explicit, or when the presence of characters is intentionally distant, as if it were an impossible to avoid shadow.
Sandra takes as her reference impressive classics of photography such as Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman, and however, she is a classic in many media. He has a wide professional career of almost 30 years, which has allowed him to publish his photographs in many international journals, combining the projects of commissions with others more committed and personal.
It is possible that, as she says, her hands are small like her, and that's why for some jobs she likes her beloved Fuji machine. In any case it is something that does not prevent him from making great and magnificent photography shots. She represents a true show of passion for photography.
What led you to the photograph?
When I was 13 years old I took a photo course at school, and the first time I saw the image appear on the photo paper inside the dark room, I felt the same butterflies in my stomach that when they gave me my first kiss, so it was a crush that has lasted a lifetime.
Why architectural photography?
By chance. I was working as an assistant for an architecture photographer, for an account that I had at that time of photography, food for an advertising agency, and when the work of that account ended, I continued with him learning architectural photography. Over time, and reviewing my first photographs during my photo studies, I realized that almost all of them were architecture, houses, doors, windows, stairs, empty spaces, walls with personality, so although I did not consciously choose the architecture As a subject, I suppose I was amazed by an affinity that I already had inside.
A photographer that you consider a reference?
I am amazed by the photographs of Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman from the era of American modernism. I have his photographs recorded in my memories and many times I recognize his influence in my work, especially in my most personal work, also architectural photography, and in my images I always look for that simplicity that I admire so much in his work.
Build photography, ideas, inspiration? What do you prefer to capture spaces or create places?
I guess I always approach photography from a very emotional place. I look for silence in spaces, emptiness and find a way to photograph them. It is always thought that architecture is the form, but, for me, it is the empty space it contains and its capacity to make that empty space a pleasant one. And within that space I look for light, and how it plays an essential role in architecture.
I have been dedicated to architectural photography for almost 30 years and I always face each project as if it were a blank page, and I never know what I am going to photograph. It is the space and the light that reveals it to me, but for that I have to spend some time in the spaces, it is not so obvious or immediate, but the photos appear as the light is drawing its way into the void . And that process fascinates me. Once I enter it, I can spend endless hours without stopping, that part of my work is one of the things that I like the most, feeling how everything disappears, time, the world, worries, haste, and only that remains instant, that light, that space, without limits and without barriers. You could disappear in it for days. Too bad I can not always because of schedule issues. But I feel happy when I'm there: the client disappears, expectations and urgency, and only the essential remains, what is important to me: time, space and being there. If the space is achieved, the enjoyment is impressive, if not, it becomes a very interesting challenge too.
I have been dedicated to architectural photography for almost 30 years and I always face each project as if it were a blank page, and I never know what I am going to photograph. It is the space and the light that reveals it to me, but for that I have to spend some time in the spaces, it is not so obvious or immediate, but the photos appear as the light is drawing its way into the void . And that process fascinates me. Once I enter it, I can spend endless hours without stopping, that part of my work is one of the things that I like the most, feeling how everything disappears, time, the world, worries, haste, and only that remains instant, that light, that space, without limits and without barriers. You could disappear in it for days. Too bad I can not always because of schedule issues. But I feel happy when I'm there: the client disappears, expectations and urgency, and only the essential remains, what is important to me: time, space and being there. If the space is achieved, the enjoyment is impressive, if not, it becomes a very interesting challenge too.
Your first camera? And now?
A Yashica that my mother bought me when I was 13 years old. A Canon 5D with wonderful architectural lenses and a Fuji XT-1 (reminiscent of my Nikon FE2 that was my favorite for years) and now I wear it as much as I can. The Canon is a marvel, but I am very small and I have a child's hands of 10 years and I weigh a little and the lenses are too big for my hands and so I use it for architecture that works incredibly well, while the Fuji is a little gem, light, small and does not intimidate people when you use it, which in my case is very important, because I work a lot in the Sacred Valley and in Brazil in more social photography projects.
Is there a picture that you would have liked or would you like to make?
None in particular, I admire the photographs of so many photographers, some strangers and other celebrities, and I always marvel at his look, as well as the photo of some of my colleagues, of whom I also learn a lot, but the only photo I want to make is the next, and I am always happy to have chosen this direction in my life, since I studied Communication and Cinema and was very close to dedicate myself to the cinema that fascinates me and I enjoy tirelessly in movie theaters, but I think I have been much happier as a fixed photographer, and above all, much more free.
More information
Sandra Pereznieto
Sandra Pereznieto. She studied photography in one of the few photo schools that existed in Mexico City while she studied Communication and Cinema at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
After at least ten years of dedicating to architectural photography in Mexico, she received a scholarship to study a Postgraduate Program at PompeuFabra in Barcelona, where she has lived and worked for almost twenty years.
She collaborates with prestigious Mexican and Spanish architects photographing private and public spaces in both continents.
She is currently working on projects in Brazil, Peru, Romania and Mexico. She was selected as a finalist in the 2015 Lens Culture Street Photography Awards for her project Back to Silence. https://www.lensculture.com/sandra-pereznieto
Her images have been published frequently in national and international magazines such as METALOCUS, Domus, Casabella, Mark Magazine, Wallpaper *, Metropolis, LandscapeArchitecture Magazine, ArchitecturalDigest, AU, Summa, C3, IW, Arquine, Space, On Design, Area, Interior Design among others with covers on several of them. He collaborates in book publications with publishers such as Taschen, Gestalten, Frechmanpublications, Rizzoli, Loft and Arquine and in newspaper magazines such as La Vanguardia Magazine, El País Semanal and Entre Muros del Reforma.
She currently lives between two cities, constantly traveling to the sites where the works she photographs and the projects she carry out years ago.
After at least ten years of dedicating to architectural photography in Mexico, she received a scholarship to study a Postgraduate Program at PompeuFabra in Barcelona, where she has lived and worked for almost twenty years.
She collaborates with prestigious Mexican and Spanish architects photographing private and public spaces in both continents.
She is currently working on projects in Brazil, Peru, Romania and Mexico. She was selected as a finalist in the 2015 Lens Culture Street Photography Awards for her project Back to Silence. https://www.lensculture.com/sandra-pereznieto
Her images have been published frequently in national and international magazines such as METALOCUS, Domus, Casabella, Mark Magazine, Wallpaper *, Metropolis, LandscapeArchitecture Magazine, ArchitecturalDigest, AU, Summa, C3, IW, Arquine, Space, On Design, Area, Interior Design among others with covers on several of them. He collaborates in book publications with publishers such as Taschen, Gestalten, Frechmanpublications, Rizzoli, Loft and Arquine and in newspaper magazines such as La Vanguardia Magazine, El País Semanal and Entre Muros del Reforma.
She currently lives between two cities, constantly traveling to the sites where the works she photographs and the projects she carry out years ago.
