Maria Teresa Salvati presents photographers seen through their intimate and personal motivation, their Spot of Beauty.
Álvaro Laiz
Documentary photographer and visual artist working on topics related to culture and nature, and how they interact and intertwine with each other.
Creative production as a personal research in which history, nature, genetics and bonds within small communities, come together to talk about culture evolution. Ultimately, Laiz’s work is an attempt to force a reflection on how to connect the dots of his own personal path and flow.
For Álvaro, the artistic practice and way of living resemble a kind of labyrinth. The concept of the unknown and the element of surprise of what awaits you is the invitation to enter. Once you are inside, research, self-discovery, awareness, analysis and exploration, all feed into the development of the story; and when you get out of the labyrinth, the perception of that story is never the same.
The Labyrinth is a metaphor for self-awareness, change and evolution, either by inviting you to consume the story or by subtly addressing personal experiences. In this journey of discovery and self-discovery, the movement is always quiet and slow, allowing viewers to come into the scene and let things happen. A labyrinth can aesthetically shape the way of seeing.
The projects produced don’t have answers, rather they aim at observing, give food for thoughts and understanding how the points of view may change, how people evolve, in an attempt to try and find the most authentic position in the world, through the visual language of photography.
The Hunter
It was the time when the Udegei people, seeing a deer, believed they saw a deer-man. Seeing a tiger, they would see a tiger-man. In such times, all manner of things happened to people. Such things happened that today do not.
In 1997 a Russian poacher called Markov ran into the trail of a gigantic Amur tiger. Despite the risk, Markov saw the tiger’s footprints as a promise for a better life. He shot the tiger, but was not able to kill it. Udege people believe that if someone attacks a tiger without a reason, Amba will hunt him down. Unexpectedly, Markov unleashed the Amba, the dark side of the tiger. During the following 72 hours the animal tracked down Markov and killed him. Later investigations suggest that the tiger planned its movements with a rare mix of strategy and instinct and most importantly, with a chilling clarity of purpose: Amba was seeking for revenge. This animistic belief constitutes the leitmotiv to experience the impact of Nature in the Udege communities across one of the last remains of shamanism: the Russian Far East hunter’s culture.
