Category Archives: Uruguay

Fotograma-11, Uruguay

By cate | Published October 11, 2011

200 muestras, 500 expositores, 30 ciudades.
And, did I mention the full catalog is 756 pages?

Panel 2 from the Comedor Los Pibes exhibit in Colonia, Uruguay

Panel 2, centered with a portrait of Ernesta.

This is Fotograma-11, a country-wide photo exhibit in Uruguay held the months of October, November and December. I am showing selected images from Comedor Los Pibes at L’Instant Photographies in Colonia, Uruguay. Unfortunately the Fotograma-11 website has a few problems with the details. The text explanation is truncated and my last name on the website is Nelly. I can’t complain much, that was my grandmother’s first name, and they did get it right in the printed catalog. But, if you’re curious, and looking for me, look for my first names instead (those would be Caitlin Margaret for those of you who know me only as Cate).


My exhibit opens October 18th and runs until November 7th. I will be back in Colonia, Uruguay Saturday, November 5th and sticking around for the weekend. I’ll be having a picnic in the Plaza Mayor. Stop by, but buy your supplies on the Uruguay side. You can not bring most foods through customs.


Si, se puede leer español (el texto de la muestra):

Durante mucho tiempo no pude darle titulo al proyecto. Cuando finalmente me senté para escribir sobre las fotos, el titulo surgió naturalmente. Después de meses de editar fotografías sabía que estaba mirando gente común.

Pero, ¿por qué preocuparse por la gente común? Cómo fotoperiodista, esta pregunta seguía persiguiéndome; la finalidad, el gancho, lo emotivo, la razón por la cual debía mirar, pero yendo más a lo personal, ¿porqué tomé fotos de estas personas?

Recurrí a las palabras de uno de los grandes fotógrafos, Elliot Erwitt, para inspirarme:

“Se trata de reaccionar a lo que uno ve, esperando que sea sin preconceptos. Se pueden encontrar fotografías en cualquier parte. Es cuestión de prestarle atención a las cosas y organizarlas. Solo tiene que importarte lo que está a tu alrededor y preocuparte la humanidad y la comedia humana”.

Disfruto descubrir el mundo con ojos que no sean los propios, tener una visión diferente, gracias a las personas a las que retraté. Descubrir lo sutil, como un nombre garabateado con tinta en una mesa, la concentración de la gente trabajando, las risas y reacciones mientras se paraban frente a mi cámara.

Si miro a mi alrededor durante el tiempo suficiente hay mucho por ver.

Todos podemos beneficiarnos si nos preocupamos más por la humanidad y por la comedia humana. Más allá de que sean como usted o no; que tengan una visión política similar u opuesta; que sean tan ricos o tan pobres como usted; que estén de su parte, o en su equipo; que tengan su misma creencia religiosa u otra diferente; que tengan documentos o no.

¿Se entiende? Tal vez.

“Es sólo cuestión de prestarle atención a las cosas”, y no es lo extraordinario lo que nos falta ver.

…up next in our programming,

By cate | Published April 29, 2011

UPDATE: The exhibit will officially open on October 18, 2011 and run a few weeks until November 7, 2011. I’ll be there to hang the photos and again on Saturday, October 22, 2011 for the day.

As one show comes down the next one is in the planning stages. Rapidly. I can’t really complain because I have known about this for awhile, but I work on deadlines. I’m not a procrastinator by any means. I just have this fear of letting others down which drives me to make deadlines no-matter-what. Maybe it is just a fear of photo editors, but the first time you have a nightmare about blowing an assignment, let me know and we’ll chat. I’ve had plenty…and usually before big events/games. Nothing like the Stanley Cup playoffs to give me three months of the worst sleep I’ve ever had. (as a side note: Go Bruins!)

But as all things must end, even the good stuff, I’ll be taking the Avantgarb{age} show down on Monday. It was well received and as I mentioned a good introduction for me. Today I’ve spent the day planning the next one, which will be La Gente Común, Comedor Los Pibes (portraits and daily life) at L’Instant Photograpies in Colonia, Uruguay. Opening is sometime in October/November. This will be a part of Uruguay’s Fotograma-11, a country-wide photo exhibit held in various galleries, with a multitude of artists/photographers. I am honored to be a part of it and ecstatic that the owner of L’Instant asked me to participate (btw, his name is Eduardo and if you find yourself in Colonia you need to stop in and say Hi. Located in Plaza Mayor in the old town. Tell him Cate sent you and give yourself time. He is worth a long chat and besides having some great photography of Colonia, he has awesome collections of nick-knacks about the gallery.)

So fear, photo editors, nightmares… yeah. Get used to it. Anyway, I am a visual person – ya’ think? And as this Friday work day winds to an end I thought I’d share with you my visual musings for the show. This is how someone spatially challenged has to “envision” things.

Tape, string, and cut-outs from the newspaper. And to scale. So much for ‘envision.’ I need to touch and feel. See. Think. Rearrange. My hands like to be involved.

To explain: This is panel 3, which will have a center piece portrait at 50x60cm and then 18 other photos portraits at 15x23cm – horizontal and vertical – arranged on either side and framed in different style, but common frames that you’d buy in the local shop. The idea is to draw attention the photos as similar to the ones you have on your desk of your loved ones. Gente Común. Everyday People.

Below: Is my scribbled drawing of panels 1 and 2, arranged in a similar style. Both will be anchored by the center piece portrait at 50x60cm and then around each will be five photographs of the work/protests/life of the comedor. So, while viewers will get the opportunity to see portraits of La Gente Común, they will also get a glimpse into the lives (albiet a narrow glimpse), of the worker-members.

To make things all that more challenging I am really learning to write my project statements in a concise, yet appealing manner. It is not easy. Try being interesting in less than 500 characters. And too boot my CV has to be boiled down into 1000 characters or less, including spaces. Hmmmm…. I’ve got to work on that one.