“Beyond Inside” the Shadows: César Vásquez Altamirano's Monochrome Mastery
In this interview, I converse with César Vásquez Altamirano, the brilliant mind behind the evocative photography book Beyond Inside. As someone who has spent the past five years immersed in the vibrant cultural landscape of London, César’s work captures the essence of the city’s artistic pulse. His journey from Lima to London is not just a geographical shift but a profound evolution in his photographic perspective. Through his lens, we gain an intimate glimpse into his artistic process and the inspirations that drive his compelling visual narratives.
Our conversation begins with an exploration of how London has influenced César as a photographer. From his early days documenting the lives of musician friends in Perú to his current focus on abstract and conceptual imagery, César reveals how the dynamic and ever-changing environment of London has broadened his creative horizons. His fascination with capturing the essence of trees, both in nature and urban settings, reflects his deep connection to the natural world and its enigmatic beauty.
As we delve into the making of Beyond Inside, César shares the challenges and triumphs of curating over ninety images from a vast collection of photographs taken during the pandemic. The sequencing and layout of the book were guided by an instinctive and fluid process, resulting in a publication that feels like a dream captured in fragments. César's passion for self-publishing shines through as he discusses the therapeutic nature of photography and the importance of creating tangible, lasting works of art. His advice for aspiring self-publishers underscores the significance of thorough research and the joy of sharing one's vision with the world.
Interview with César Vásquez Altamirano
Anne Murayama (AM) — AFTER FIVE YEARS OF LIVING IN LONDON, HOW HAS IT SHAPED YOU AS A PHOTOGRAPHER? DO YOU HAVE RECURRING SUBJECTS THAT YOU LOVE TAKING PICTURES OF – AND WHY?
César Vásquez Altamirano (CVA): I have always been interested in music and I’ve had the opportunity to take pictures within the music scene. I was nineteen years old when I got my first film camera, and as part of my assignments for my photography course at the university of communications, I documented the life of my musician friends. I was on the road touring with their rock band for six years whilst also working as their roadie. They were good times and we visited many cities in my home country, Perú.
London has always been my dream city to live in, mainly for the rock music scene. I have visited the city many times before moving here and I think the constant effervescent artistic movement of London shaped my visual interpretation throughout the years – from mostly taking pictures of people in the streets to widening my view and transitioning to taking more abstract and conceptual images.
I really like to take pictures of trees that interact in nature or cities. They are mysterious, sometimes magnificent, and their energy is good for my soul.
AM — WHY DO YOU TAKE PICTURES IN BLACK & WHITE? HOW DOES THE ABSENCE OF COLOR AFFECT YOUR VISUAL STORYTELLING?
CVA: When I was nine years old, I used to watch Charlie Chaplin’s black and white short films in my grandmother’s bedroom on the weekends very early in the morning. When I was a teenager, one of my dreams was to be able to draw but I never could use a pencil very well. When I printed my first picture by myself in my university’s darkroom, I realized that I could draw with my camera, I just needed any 400 ISO black and white film, Rodinal developer at 1+25 dilution, and energetic agitation.
The only way that I can express myself is through monochrome; I see life as fiction and color as reality.
AM — WHAT IS YOUR DREAM PHOTO PROJECT? WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH – COULD BE LIVING OR DEAD.
CVA – I would like to explore the Japanese landscape and travel through the country. Then I’d like to set up a show in Tokyo, rent a risograph printer and make prints in A3 size in order to make books during the exhibition. I would invite the audience to be involved in the process of selection and sequencing, in that way, everyone can have their own unique version of the book. It would also be nice to have a portable mini darkroom for people who want to print some negatives of the project by themselves.
It would be a dream to collaborate with Nakahira Takuma, he was a huge and important influence who changed the concept of photography, and not only in Japan. His revolutionary writings as a critic and theorist, have often questioned what photography is, how we read images as a society, and how language cannot be disassociated with the interpretation of images.
AM — HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THE SEQUENCING AND LAYOUT OF BEYOND INSIDE? WERE THERE CHALLENGES THAT HINDERED YOU IN YOUR PROCESS?
CVA: The most difficult part of Beyond Inside was the selection of the pictures for the book. All photographs were taken in London between June 2020 and April 2023. I shot more than one hundred and twenty rolls for the project and the first selection was more than five hundred photographs, initially I was thinking of publishing a thick and small size book but as soon as I finished taking pictures for the project, I realized that the best size for the book would be A4 with ninety-two images.
For me, Beyond Inside is a container of fragments as part of a deep and long dream, with this premise the sequencing of the book took place in a very smooth and instinctive way. In my previous publications I tried to minimize the quantity of text, often placing them in the middle spread of the monograph, this time I did something similar for the layout of Beyond Inside, the first piece of text is placed at the beginning, the title is placed in the middle and the credits are placed at the end. For the text background, I intentionally chose three images showing water as the main subject, in the context of my life water symbolizes change, force, and hope.
AM — WHY DO YOU MAKE YOUR OWN PHOTO ZINES AND BOOKS? WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION?
CVA: One important part of photography’s beauty is the process of it, I think, and I really enjoy doing it. About nine years ago I had the opportunity to have my own darkroom when I was living in Italy, I used to print my pictures on fibre-based paper and the process was very long, I learned a lot from my friend, mentor and master printer Luciano Corvaglia, the whole experience was so unique, I was amazed how important is read and interpreted your negative before to put it in the enlarger, how never will be two prints exactly the same because your hands, mind and heart plays a very important role in this process.
Unfortunately for the space factor I could not set up my darkroom when I moved here in London, but I found by chance in a photobook store, a beautiful series of zines, made by the prolific photographer and publisher Matt Martin, his work is beautiful and presenting it in a zine version was to me a revelation, because I did not know about self-publishing before, so I got it as an inspiration and I made my first dummy zine using photocopier printer at home, a few months later I met Matt in a photobook fair in London, he kindly suggest me how to improve my zine printing quality. Since that moment I have been regularly self-publishing my work.
I think it is important to share photography through something tangible, as a concept of life; here today and gone tomorrow, it would be nice if someone sees your work in the future.
AM — WHAT WILL BE YOUR NEXT PUBLICATION? ARE YOU WORKING ON OTHER PROJECTS TOO?
CVA: Currently, I am working on a series of landscapes in Kent, England. It’s been a while that I’ve been interested in exploring this part of the country, ever since my first visit to the UK, almost eleven years ago.
For this project I am thinking of publishing a monograph using a risograph printer. I am not yet sure about the layout, quantity of pages and size but I would like to do something different from my previous publications.
Last year I started to photograph graveyards in London. They are beautiful places to visit, you can often see people gathering there, having picnics or doing some kind of events sometimes.
AM — HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED? WHEN YOU’RE STUCK, WHAT MAKES YOU PICK UP YOUR CAMERA AND SHOOT AGAIN?
CVA: Definitely there are two things that help me to keep myself motivated; cinema and photobooks.
I think there is no best medium to share visual art than cinema, I really love to watch films, they can transport me in a different sensorial dimension, some of my favourite directors are; Béla Tarr, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Fritz Lang, Kōji Wakamatsu, among others.
It has been ten years since I bought my first photobook; I cannot explain with words the unique feeling that this medium gives me every time I put myself in their narrative through their pages, and usually when I feel stuck, I just need to pick up some of them from the bookshelf, read them for a few hours and then the adrenaline to pick up my camera and shoot again returns immediately.
AM — WHY DO YOU THINK PHOTOGRAPHY IS THERAPEUTIC? WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING THING ABOUT IT?
CVA: A few months ago I found a book called Ikigai, a beautiful Japanese concept of the importance of having a purpose in life. I have always believed that everyone needs to have at least one passion to develop and work on in life. I think this is the meaning of happiness, because no matter what happens in life I will always have my Ikigai.
With this assumption I think that every passion is therapeutic, in my case, the act of taking pictures is a constant search to express myself, capturing all of these scenes that maybe were in my mind before, and then they materialise in front of me, but eventually they return in the form of tangible fragments as parts of a dream. This repetitive act is like a mantra for a yogi doing meditation, it rewards me and heals my soul, producing dopamine that makes me feel alive.
AM — WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO FIRST TIME SELF-PUBLISHERS? ALSO, IF YOU WERE TO LOOK BACK TO THE TIME WHEN YOU MADE YOUR FIRST ZINE, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL TO YOUR PAST SELF?
CVA: Beyond Inside was planned to be released in August 2023, but unfortunately I had a terrible experience with the printer company, which caused a delay for the launch of the book. I spent two extra months trying to find another printer company in order to produce my work in the way that I had intended.
After an exhaustive search I found the right printer company. Having this experience, I would say that it is extremely important to research well even before starting the editing of the publication.
Monochrome digital printing can be very difficult if the digital files of the covers and pages are not correctly setup, their tonality can come out greenish or bluish and sometimes could affect the depth of the blacks, this was the case of my first zine, so I wish I had known this information before.
CÉSAR VÁSQUEZ ALTAMIRANO
Born in 1982 — Lima, Perú
Currently based in London, UK
Author of Beyond Inside
Favorite Songs
Rubber Bullets - Clinic
Run Home Slow - The Kills
Three Faint Calls - The Greenhornes
Favorite Films
The Turin Horse - Béla Tarr
Persona - Ingmar Bergman
The Third Man - Carol Reed
Favorite Artists
Nakahira Takuma
Marina Abramović
Saeki Toshio
Links
Instagram: @cesar.vazquezaltamirano
Website: cesarvasquezaltamirano.photos
Breaking the boundaries of self-consciousness, dreams of déjà-vus, appreciation and understanding of finding the beauty in imperfections - a Japanese concept called Wabi-Sabi, makes the journey through the pages of the monograph Beyond Inside — an invitation of suggestive interpretation of experiences such as fear, desire and ambition, shown in these photographs by César Vásquez Altamirano.