These candid pictures seize the fleeting moments that slip our reminiscence

“Photography is deeply embedded in the way I experience life,” says the Galician artist Cristina Stolhe. “And it’s compulsive.” In truth, when she was making ready for her newest exhibition, No te preocupes si no, she came upon a photograph of herself at 12 years outdated, holding a point-and-shoot digicam. “I realised I’m still doing exactly the same thing,” she provides. “I don’t usually start with a subject or a concept. I photograph things that catch my attention. I’m interested in what’s happening around me, and in the feeling that a moment is already disappearing while you are experiencing it.”

In No te preocupes si no (translated as No worries if not), this manifests as pictures of strangers on the street, fashions dressing backstage at exhibits, items of furnishings and fragments of structure, the ivory enamel of a canine round a fluorescent tennis ball, fruit kicked to the curb, and extra. Often, we get hints of the life taking part in out past the perimeters of the body, however Stolhe doesn’t give us the entire narrative.

“I’m not consciously trying to create mystery,” the photographer explains. “But life rarely arrives with a clear explanation, and memory doesn’t work that way either.” Even the act of taking {a photograph} can remodel the topic, she provides, taking a particular second, encounter or scenario and eradicating or altering its context. “I like that photographs can hold information and ambiguity at the same time. I’m interested in leaving space for the viewer. Not everything has to be fully understood.”

Held at Madrid’s El Chico gallery, the present consists of pictures taken in numerous contexts, spanning each Stolhe’s private follow and work in style (it’s no coincidence that it’s staged on white panels, just like the moodboards used backstage at a runway present, and sometimes discarded after the presentation). This lack of separation is a part of the that means behind the title, she says: “‘No te preocupes si no’ or ‘No worries if not’ is about trusting where you are, not feeling the need to define everything or choose a single place to belong. Sometimes you find yourself inhabiting different spaces at once, and that’s ok.” 

In one other sense, the title will get on the slipperiness of actuality and reminiscence because it unfolds round us. “You can’t control time, you can’t hold onto everything, and you can’t always be fully aware of what is happening while it’s happening.” This is the place images is available in, making us conscious of the muddy flooring, fleeting glances, and materials textures which may in any other case move us by. “For me, it’s a way of paying attention to the things that are already disappearing as they happen,” she provides. “If you see something, you see it. If not, that’s fine too.”

In a world the place so many issues are competing for our consideration – and telling us what’s purported to be value paying consideration to – Stolhe’s pictures trace at one other approach of trying and remembering. The boundaries between individuals, objects, and moments in time break down, educating us to watch with out too many preconceptions or pre-existing narratives. What if a strip of ground tiles or the grease stain on a pizza field was simply as vital to take discover of as a human face, or a style assortment? What makes us see one image as “art”, one other as “fashion”, and one more as simply an outtake within the digicam roll? For Stolhe, No te preocupes si no is equally open-ended. “There isn’t a single narrative or conclusion that I want viewers to arrive at,” she says. “I hope people can spend time with the work and find their own connections to it.”

No te preocupes si no is on present at El Chico gallery, Madrid, till July 24.