ROBERTO HUARCAYA'S PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
The Madrid-based gallery Ponce+Robles presents Ver por contacto (“Seeing by Contact”), an exhibition showcasing a selection of photograms from some of Roberto Huarcaya’s (Lima, Peru, 1959) most iconic series. Among them, particular emphasis is placed on works from Amazogramas (2014), a project carried out in the Peruvian Amazon, specifically in the Tambopata jungle. For this work, the photographer used large rolls of photosensitive paper to capture innovative images by making direct contact with the surrounding vegetation.
This series reflects the Lima-born artist's ongoing research interests in both visual and conceptual realms, highlighting the natural interconnection between landscape, body, and memory. It explores the innovative potential of creating photographs without a camera, expanding the boundaries of spatial perception. The series recalls a primitive method—one that lies between human and technological intervention—while fostering a deeper connection with the environment and drawing on early photographic techniques like cyanotype and Van Dyke brown printing.
With this artisanal process, Huarcaya also challenges the pace and immediacy of contemporary visual consumption, lending significance to the maturity of technique over the speed demanded by digital photography and its current uses. Matter and light require time to intertwine, resulting in artworks rich in symbolism and deeply rooted in meticulous process.
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Vista de instalación Roberto Huryaca: Ver por contacto en Ponce+Robles, 2025 (Ponce+Robles)
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Vista de instalación Roberto Huryaca: Ver por contacto en Ponce+Robles, 2025 (Ponce+Robles)
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Vista de instalación Roberto Huryaca: Ver por contacto en Ponce+Robles, 2025 (Ponce+Robles)
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Vista de instalación Roberto Huryaca: Ver por contacto en Ponce+Robles, 2025 (Ponce+Robles)
The exhibition also gives prominence to Digigramas (2015), a similarly concept-driven series that underpins the overarching theme of the show. In this body of work, Huarcaya heightens the experimental nature of photographic manipulation by creating photograms of flowers placed directly onto the digital camera’s internal sensor.
In this way, viewers move through a series of essential, almost ghostly landscapes, which depart from the perfectionist ideals of traditional photography. Rejecting such conventions, the true realization of these works lies in the process itself—a return to origins with the necessary distance, stripping away the importance of rigid elements like framing, perspective, or composition.
Ver por contacto. Roberto Huarcaya can be seen through July 18 at Ponce+Robles, Alameda 5, Madrid (Spain).
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