8 minute read
Common Oddities
Ibarionex Perello exposes the eccentricity of everyday space
A disquieting ambience hangs heavy in the air. The picture casts a familiar sight: conventional and mundane, the scene is superficially normal. Still, it nags. Itching beneath the surface, something feels incongruous. It’s tricky to pinpoint, but there’s something amiss here… something off.
Linked to feelings of disorientation, the term ‘liminal’ stems from the Latin word limen, which, when translated accurately, indicates the presence of a threshold. Employed to describe the transitional vicinity between two states of being (think hallways, waiting rooms, corridors), the phrase speaks to that unsettling halfway sensation we all experience, yet seldom seem able to define.
The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond – encounters with this strange and uncanny locale are no stranger to artistic interpretation. For generations, dreamlike imaginings have spawned myriad creations across film and photography, their mainstays hazy and obscure.
Swapping Cottingley for the common, Ibarionex Perello’s latest project builds on this tradition, but this time unearthly creatures are discarded. In this lens, quirks have pedestrian roots: however ordinary, they subsist in the streets of Old Pasadena, California.
“I’m trying to pull away from plain documentation. I like to create abstractions,” he describes.
On first glance, these photographs highlight unremarkable scenes – scant street depictions that most would walk by, or simply overlook. But stop and stare; look deeper. The irregularity becomes tough to miss.
“Composition is central. If I’m not exacting, I may not succeed in portraying what I’m hoping to achieve.”
It might be prompted by an unexpected flourish of color, or off-kilter structure. A sudden burst of shadow may offset a series of differing textures, rendering predictable scenes avant-garde and unique. Whatever the element, Ibarionex’s ability relies on an instinctual skill: he discerns that which most would ignore, then purposefully underlines each construct with meticulous care.
“When I discover a scene, I need a strong emotional reaction – a gut response. That’s when I take my camera and attempt to replicate that same feeling in someone else.
“In the end, I’m responding organically to what I’ve got. A lot of these things would be so easy to let pass. I just try to open myself up to the unusual, and that serves as a catalyst. It can make for some fascinating imagery.”
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F8, ISO 640
Sauntering about California on a weekday afternoon, Ibarionex took to the streets, snapping away as a Latin jazz band performed for nearby onlookers.
When emphasizing the individualities of a scene, a typical creative may rely on patent close-ups and layered bokeh. When it comes to Ibarionex’s experiments with GF20-35mmF4 R WR, a broader, more comprehensive canvas became exploitable – both technically and artistically.
The opportunity at hand presented a challenge: with all this definition and scope, could Ibarionex effectually organize diverse visual features, yet still retain overall cohesion?
“Recently, I’ve started to experiment with wider lenses in this realm. It’s not just about including more components within the frame – it’s about balancing multiple parts, while preserving a compelling image on the whole. I want to straddle the line between making it work, and it completely falling apart.
“It’s more difficult to successfully pull off wide angles because you have to juggle so much at once. Separating aspects is much easier – that’s what I’m accustomed to. This time, I wanted to challenge myself to imagine outside that box.”
Rather than be drawn towards stereotypical subject matter, Ibarionex began training his lens on the umbrella of a local eatery, framed beside prominent red brick.
“I was strolling around the old parts of the neighborhood, searching for things that might pull my attention. I saw this silhouette against the wall, and was instantly intrigued.”
First impressions are otherworldly and eerie. A prominent metal pipe resembles a handle or grip, making the canopy seem as if it’s hovering in mid-air. The spectral framing of a routine object recalibrates the way we perceive ‘generic’ facets of everyday life.
“It provided this great mirroring effect. The oddness tied everything together, as did the prominence of the shadow, and that reddish patterning. There were all these engaging graphic constituents, and I aspired to make them function with one voice.”
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F8, ISO 200
In a similarly observed scenario, a turquoise wedge counterpoints a jagged white block. There’s nothing that tangibly distinguishes what we’re looking at, but in a sense, that’s precisely the point.
“It’s a traffic barrier,” Ibarionex reveals. “Staff were opening parts of the street for alfresco restaurants, so they could set up tables. The spiky white section was a portion of that partition.”
Initial confusion gave rise to intrigue. Owing to its curious shapes and juxtapositions, a banal road blockade is elevated from everyday element to experimental reimagining.
“I saw it, and just didn’t understand what it was,” he laughs. “To me, that’s not especially important. I’m more interested in conjuring an immediate response to the aesthetics and distinctions.”
Rather than consider the object itself, Ibarionex’s approach is entrenched in compositional concerns. For him, the item is hardly the focus. The appeal lies in evoking visceral reactions in the recipient.
“I want to rouse emotional responses from material you wouldn’t expect to be affected by. I cover a lot of ‘average’ subject matter for that very reason,” he notes.
Stressing shunned spaces is something that Ibarionex identifies as a key motivation, but this impulse doesn’t just apply to his lens-based observations. From an early age, photography was a means of defining his own sense of value – even when the world rejected his merit, and shirked his sense of self-worth.
“It reinforces the way I see. Over and above the physical nature of the photograph, it’s a very encouraging practice. Growing up, I often thought I didn’t have much ability, or that what I did wasn’t noteworthy. In a lot of ways, I felt very inadequate. The camera made me feel like I was something more.
“When I first saw my images printed on that paper, I was sold,” he recalls. “One of the joys of GF20-35mm is seeing the results. It reminds me of way back when – why I got involved in taking pictures. I’m gobsmacked every time. It’s just stunning.”
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F16, ISO 320
Embellishments are key rudiments in Ibarionex’s work. As well as uncovering strangeness, singular adornments enhance each concept with surprising, unexpected distinctions.
Visually, these additions make combinations more effective, creating improbably beautiful fusions of texture and contour. One such example is a large garage entryway, its paint cracked and weathered from years of evident use.
“The color contrast caught my eye… that greenish aqua beside the vermillion. It’s the lock that provides that sudden boost. The sticker also creates a comparable heightening force.
“Having gestures of that kind are totally necessary. If they weren’t there, I think this would be a routine exercise.”
Emblazoned with the now-defunct 818 area code, the faded label is a remnant. However tattered it may look, the bright silver lock counteracts the outward unimportance of what we see, forcing us to confront the idiosyncrasy: does something this dilapidated really harbor value?
“It’s old, but permeated with history. There’s a lot contained within that frame, and it’s all intensified by those smaller accents.”
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F13, ISO 400
There’s a real synergy in what Ibarionex produces, evidenced by the cumulative impact of these so-called ‘pronunciations’. Another exposure of the garage reveals a yellowish pillar, fringed by chasms of negative space. The outline on the wall is unmistakably sci-fi – summoning the view of a satellite that isn’t all it purports to be.
“To ruin the illusion, this one’s a mirror positioned toward the exterior of the building. It’s there for vehicles, to assist visibility in noticing walkers, but does really resemble a dish, doesn’t it?”
Triangular fluorescents hang disconcertingly overhead. Ibarionex’s mastery of chiaroscuro is a staggering feat when considering his near-total absence of a lighting setup, but with equipment like GFX, regular necessities quickly become optional.
“Aperture priority is amazing in situations like these. I absolutely love the colors GFX produces, regardless of light. The sensor generates such a lovely range of hues. The blacks are so dark, but I still underexposed this by about two-thirds of a stop. I wanted to let that void breathe.”
Jam-packing his photos with depth, the richness of Ibarionex’s approach is unquestionable. Its perhaps best characterized in a portrait of nearby dancers, gathered to revel the rhythms of live music.
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F16, ISO 320
Twisting his lens toward the phantoms of a pivoting couple, wide focal lengths stretch and elongate the perspective. Rather than concentrate on the movements of the subjects themselves, Ibarionex aims his camera downward, revealing their silhouetted actions, jarringly extended across a tiled sidewalk. The impression is distorted and harsh, yet no less captivating in its unnatural perception.
“Quite often, this kind of activity is an awkward thing to photograph,” Ibarionex says. “A lot of the time, body language looks strange and affected, and I don’t like the way it appears. With that in mind, I wanted to attempt something a little different.
“I noticed the weirdness of shadow play occurring on the ground, so I took about half a dozen snaps as everyone was gyrating. I paid special attention to hands and feet – those were the most expressive figures.
“In this one instance, both of them joined fingers, creating this brilliant outline – and everything came together. I don’t know if I would have discovered it without this kit.
Photo 2022 © Ibarionex Perello| FUJIFILM GFX100S and GF20-35mmF4 R WR, 1/200 sec at F8, ISO 250
“I can’t live without the stabilization now. It’s absolutely essential in my process. In the past, I’ve lost so much at slower speeds, all because I’ve mashed the shutter too aggressively. This system saves me so much grief in that respect.”
The final image in Ibarionex’s series – a long shot of an intersection – brings us full circle. It’s here we conclude on the edge of one side, before traversing to the other.
“This is a diagonal crosswalk. I saw the white lines creating this W shape, and found the arrangement fascinating.
“You can cross traditionally, or you can go slantwise. That part is up to you.”
