Ale Ocampo FotografíaMetamorfosis
Posted on 19 de julio de 2015
Proceso de rehabilitación y rehumanización de privados de libertad llevado a cabo en APAC, una cárcel Costarricense, donde por medio del retrato se muestran las individualidades de cada personaje a través de sus objetos o sus espacios cotidianos.
Thug Life
Posted on 19 de julio de 2015
Cárcel de San Sebastián, Costa Rica, 2013.
Conocer un poco acerca de la realidad que enfrentan los privados de libertad en las cárceles de nuestro país, es tan solo asomarse a un mundo lleno de incomprensión y olvido.
Por medio de sus espacios, de sus objetos, de su cotidianeidad, podríamos quizá conocer su historia, sin darnos cuenta que tal vez esta realidad sea una de muchas que se disipan en el tiempo, en un mar de historias similares que nunca llegan a ser escuchadas.
«One of the hardest things while making a photo is to give life to a frame lacking life itself.
Yet with these images the photographer has done exactly that. By showing us a glimpse of how these inmates personalize their surroundings by using whatever is at hand as a way of creating a sense of ownership and while trying to dictate a modicum of control in a world where the will of individual is taken away.
The empty bed with the lattice of light on the wall and a message of love by itself might be a good indicator of a life spent in confinement. However the need of the inmate to further explained that these names are of his children; changes the nature of the image from empty space to a space where a live is being “lived.”
The image of the bars shows once more the antropomorphizing of a space by the presence of shoes representing the need of the human being to impose its humanity upon its surroundings regardless of the nature of said space.
The painting of a caring farmer tending to a budding tree painted in bright colors in an otherwise monochromatic world assuages the severity of the circumstances by showing nascent life in an environment designed to take away the essence of the individual.
The parting shot of the view from within a metal fence towards the natural landscape transcends the components of the image to that of one of hope for freedom.»
Essdras M Suarez / Pulitzer Prizewinner Photographer
Nostalgia
Posted on 19 de julio de 2015
Ensayo fotográfico que documenta el trabajo de aquellos artesanos de pueblo que van desapareciendo ante la sombra de las grandes corporaciones y el consumismo, que luchan día a día para existir en una sociedad que poco a poco se olvida de ellos.
«On this essay Ocampo has managed to become the proverbial fly on the wall while achieving a degree of intimacy and still remain the neutral observer.
In the first image of the man working the metal. She has managed to capture a man who is such at ease with his environment that he almost seem to become part of the landscape as depicted in the repeating textural patterns of the folds of his shirt and the overall repeating vertical lines found within the frame.
The two images of the mason working on a wall and the shot of the outside of a workshop area complement each other. One that transmits the sort of quite pride and meticulous attention being paid to a task others might consider a mundane action. The other depicts a stark urban environment devoid of people but at the same time evoking a lived-in quality due to the contrast of the dark world outside with the bright lights emanating from the inside.
In the photos of the shoemaker, she achieves the same kind of balance by first bringing the viewer into the frame by showing us a closer look at the product of the man’s work and then guiding our attention to the all-important human within the composition.
The detail shot of the hubcap and the radiator fan blades posses a synergistic visual quality where the inanimate objects transform into abstract geometric figures, which almost seem to have a life of their own.»
Essdras M Suarez / Pulitzer Prizewinner Photographer
La Sombra del Migrante
Posted on 19 de julio de 2015
Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica, 2012.
La mano de obra Nicaragüense es la que más se encuentra hoy en día en mi país. Estos migrantes son los que construyen nuestras casas, velan por nuestra seguridad, cultivan y recogen nuestras cosechas, cuidan a nuestras familias y a nuestros enfermos, en fin, son parte integral de nuestra sociedad y aún así sufren de nuestro diario desprecio.
La gratitud hacia este noble trabajador, me lleva a sacar a estos “héroes anónimos” donde desde hace mucho los hemos colocado, bajo la sombra de la xenofobia y del olvido, para darles el valor y reconocimiento que se merecen ante la digna labor que realizan.
«This essay is an honest and frank depiction of the hidden menial-job powerhouse behind the Costa Rican reality: the migrant worker.
In these images, the photographer shows the simplicity of these people’s lives by photographing their barren-of-luxury yet filled of personal items living quarters.
This same paradox echoes in the image of the security guard whom by its mere presence adds an intimate detail to an otherwise empty and lifeless landscape.
The dignity and care shown by the woman making the bed once more speaks of a landscape filled with lack of luxuries but filled with the care-in-the-details attitude ,which adds life to an otherwise effete of humanity environ.»
Essdras M Suarez / Pulitzer Prizewinner Photographer
Ale Ocampo Fotografía 