Jaume Llorens — juliewang

Jaume was born 1966, in Catalonia, a region steeped in rich history and vibrant culture. From his teenage years, Jaume discovered an unyielding passion for photography. Jaume has the power to capture fleeting moments to immortalize emotions and to tell stories without uttering a word. Drawn to the calm and minimalistic mood of monochrome photography, he seeks to portray his surroundings in its purest essence. He has developed an intimate connection with nature. He finds solace and inspiration in the ever-changing beauty of the silent sky, the serene lakes, the majestic trees, and the enchanting wildflowers. He embarked on a journey that would eventually shape him into the visionary artist he is today.

I was captivated the moment I laid eyes on Jaume’s diptych works on Instagram. This unique way to tell a story, emphasizing the relationship of two photos and generating a distinct third image that isn't simply the sum of the two is fascinatingly creative work to me. I have to admit that his impactful diptych photography has forever influenced my composition strategy. As a Chinese proverb says "When three people walk together, one of them is my teacher." It is so true in Instagram where countless artists are constantly inspiring me each day.

May this interview pave a new path for you to connect with Jaume's exceptional photographic perspective and a starting point for keeping learning.

1. Can you tell us a bit about your background and how growing up in Catalonia has influenced your perspective as a photographer?

When I was a teenager, I enrolled in a photography course at the high school along with some friends. I fell in love with its magic and wanted to continue learning, but there wasn't an opportunity to further my studies where I lived. So I asked my parents to enroll me in a distance learning course. Once it was finished, I set up a small darkroom at home and started developing my black and white prints. Years later, I developed an interest in nature photography, and slides left behind the black and white prints. Then came university, work... and I had a few years with hardly any contact with photography. I picked it up again with the advent of digital cameras. It seemed wonderful to have the opportunity to experiment and try endlessly, without fearing that each shot incurred a cost for film and development. And I got hooked again.

I couldn't tell you whether growing up in Catalonia has had any influence or not. Perhaps it would have been greater if I had lived in Barcelona or a larger city with much more cultural offerings.

2. Nature seems to play a significant role in your photography. How did your love for the natural surroundings develop, and what draws you to capture its beauty?

I was fortunate to grow up near a natural space like Lake Banyoles, and I believe this greatly helps break down the ingrained dualism between humans and nature in Western industrial society. We are nature. It's all one. And being conscious of this allows you to respect and love the environment of which you are a part. Failing to grasp this simple truth has led us to the climate and environmental crisis we are facing today. I believe these ideas are reflected in my photos. I approach nature to experience it, trying to connect with it using all my senses, to listen to it with respect and the awareness that we are part of the same whole. In this perception, I'm often moved by the beauty or poetry that reaches me. Impressions that I then strive to convey to my viewers.

3. Your photography has a very calm and minimalistic mood. What inspired you to adopt this approach in your work, and how do you think it enhances the viewer's experience?

We live immersed in a frantic rhythm where there's hardly any time left to listen, to become aware of ourselves and our surroundings. Seeking spaces to feel the here and now is a necessity, and photography is a fantastic excuse to exercise that search. Going out to take photos has, at least in my case, something therapeutic about it. It allows me to detach from the world and enjoy the peace, tranquility, and silence of my own environment.

I'd like to think that I can convey some of what I feel in those moments through my images. And I believe it's easier to achieve this by explaining less, by giving only hints that can resonate in some way within the person observing the photograph. If the photograph is very descriptive, with all the details and the complete story, the viewer's role becomes merely passive. There's no mystery. If the information we provide is minimal or very partial, it creates space and freedom for interpretation, allowing the viewer to actively construct their own narrative. It's they who will complete the final picture, drawing from their own subjectivity, history, emotions... And when that happens, a beautiful circle is closed.

4. I love your series “Deep Inside III” so much. Can you describe the process of capturing those intimate moments in this series? How do you approach photography as a means of listening to nature and reflecting your own emotional landscape within the images?

I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure if I'll be able to explain myself, it's a purely intuitive process. I approach the surrounding natural environment with a contemplative attitude. I try to do it in moments and places where I can be alone. It's from that solitude, silence, and contemplation that I can immerse myself further into this environment. I can feel that I am also nature. And I simply listen to the whispers it conveys. There seems to be a kind of recognition of my own emotions in the nature I'm observing. External elements that resonate within my own being, without being overly conscious of it or fully understanding why. It's during the editing process, which is much more reflective and slower, that I become slightly more aware of these connections. What I'm photographing becomes a sort of cartographic mirror of my own emotional landscape.

5. As a photographer, could you share how the studies of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, particularly their work on the Gaia hypothesis and endosymbiotic theory, have influenced your artistic perspective and the ongoing progress of your "Gaia" series? How do their ideas resonate with your vision of capturing the interconnectedness of nature in your photography?

I usually don't work with a preconceived idea of where I want to go. In other words, I don't start with an initial concept that I try to develop through photography. The series usually comes about afterwards. I find sets of images that begin to make sense as they are grouped together. This is how the 'Gaia' series came about. I started with diptychs because I was looking for pairs to create double pages for a book (inspired by how David Jiménez explained he created sequences in his book 'Infinito'). I was fascinated by how combining two images created a third one that wasn't a simple sum: a third image with its own meaning and interpretation. Through some well-known photographers, I came across Ralph Gibson's book 'Overtones', and everything started to fall into place. That third image could be a harmonious whole, a result of the combination of natural elements that balance each other. This is where the hypothesis of Gaia emerges, and I continue working with that idea.

6. How does poetry influence your photography, and how do you express your inner poet through visual art?

'Poetry' is a word that I hold in high regard. I wouldn't dare to label myself as a poet, but many of my photos do carry a poetic intention, in the sense of not expressing the obvious, of hoping that the viewer can interpret what lies behind each image and discover new layers of meaning in this process.

Once, I read an interview with Paul Cupido, one of my favorite photographers, in which he quoted a Japanese author describing haiku as "the art of reducing the infinite pleasure of emotion to its essence". It's a phrase that sums up what I believe I seek in photography: capturing the essence of moments that move me, that impress me, whether emotionally or aesthetically, and attempting to convey them in a basic, essential way.

7. Monochrome photography is a prominent feature of your work, and it's not exactly black and white. What led you to choose this unique style, and how does it contribute to the storytelling aspect of your images?

After the lockdown due to the Covid virus, I started exclusively photographing in black and white. That's when I took the photos for the series 'After the Rain'. They capture the images of a reconnection with my natural surroundings after those months of confinement, while we felt the infinite fragility of the border that separated us from death every day. The photos came out very stark, with hardly any grays. Simple and dual, like life and death. Since this series, I have found myself especially at ease with black and white.

I believe it has two main advantages. On one hand, it places you in a somewhat detached plane from reality. The real world is in color, but we represent it in a grayscale. Being outside the strictly real and representative frame is much more suggestive and open to creative freedoms. On the other hand, there's that pursuit of simplicity we discussed. We omit a layer of information, the color, trusting that the viewer has more room to complete a more subjective interpretation of our work.

8. Catalonia has a rich cultural heritage. How do you infuse elements of your culture into your photography, if at all, and does it affect your artistic vision?

Some say that each language represents a way of structuring and interpreting reality, that every speaking universe constructs its own vision of the world. It's also true that great artists from various fields have emerged from this land, and their work is part of our collective imagination. However, I'm unable to determine whether my language, Catalan, or this cultural environment has had any influence on my work. If there is an influence, I suppose it might be easier to appreciate from an outsider's perspective. Honestly, I'm not conscious of it.

I would like to mention that I fell in love with the photography of Toni Catany at a young age, especially his still lifes. He was from Mallorca, so we share the same language. If I'm not mistaken, it was encountering Catany's work that led Masao Yamamoto to leave painting and explore the artistic possibilities of photography. I'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate Catany's legacy. I believe his photographic contribution hasn't received the recognition it deserves.

9. Your photos seem to evoke a sense of serenity and connection to nature. Could you share your personal experiences that have deepened your appreciation for the natural world and inspired your work?

My entire family comes from a rural background. In the 1960s, there was a migration from the countryside to the city as industries needed labor. My parents left the countryside to work in a factory. I grew up in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, but the traditions and rural customs regarding our relationship with the environment remained very much present. My parents and grandparents never stopped cultivating the land, hunting, or raising animals to provide us with food. And naturally, I participated in many of these customs. Contact with the land and nature was a part of my life.

Moreover, when I was young, I was an enthusiast of nature photography for years. I enjoyed, like a child, spending hours hidden in a hide while life around me continued unaware of my presence. My father was a hunter, like most men of his generation and background. I was fortunate to replace the shotgun with a camera.

On another note, as I mentioned before, I am lucky to live next to a lake, Banyoles Lake, an endless source of raw material and inspiration for me and many of my fellow citizens.

And regarding what you mentioned about serenity, I think it relates to a personal quest for spaces of peace and silence. Noise overwhelms me, and this feeling intensifies as I grow older. Finding places where I can breathe in silence and enjoy it, with or without taking photos, is an absolute necessity for me.

10. As an artist, what role do you believe photography plays in raising awareness about environmental issues and our relationship with nature?

Environmental issues concern me, as they should concern us all. The legacy we will leave to the generation that follows us, our children, is absolutely unacceptable and demands an urgent change of course. I believe it's up to us, the citizens, to do everything in our power to accelerate that change. We cannot wait for our representatives to do it, as they are driven by other interests. My photos may not be overtly protest-driven, but I would be immensely satisfied if they could contribute to reminding people that we cannot live ignoring the nature of which we are a part.

Thanks Jaume Llorens and please find more his works on @ Jaume. Llorens

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