Adrià Rosell

1981, Spain

Rosell’s photographs address issues pertaining to power, violence, the passing of time and fear. In creating his final images, Rosell destroys all the photographic material he has used in the process, thus juxtaposing destruction with creation. He works as a creative at the Altraforma advertising agency in Barcelona, Spain.

"This image belongs to the series entitled Retratos Uno (Portraits One). In fact, I don’t really know exactly what I’m actually looking for in these photographs. For some years now, I’ve been trying to explore different issues in my art, essentially power and violence, using the destruction of photographic material as a way to generate new material. However, lately I’ve been perceiving different emotions and capturing different perspectives in my shots, like the passing of time, fear and the frailty of memory. Using the aforementioned manipulation techniques (although in a more relaxed manner, perhaps) and with all those ideas inhabiting my mind, these portraits emerged quite naturally. Whilst working on another series – on a series of nudes actually – and using my friends as models, I gathered the 5x4 Polaroids I had taken and, on contemplating those ecstatic expressions on their faces, I felt the need to focus my attention on them. The original shots portrayed the whole body, but the final images are extreme closeups. It’s actually quite strange, because in all my works I’ve always known exactly where I wanted to go, but in this series of (incomplete) portraits, I must say that I am at a loss. It may be a lot simpler than all that. It may just be the need to capture a familiar face, and save it from the great wave of time." ADRIÀ ROSELL

www.adriarosell.com

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