A NEW REVIEW ON CLAUDIA ANDUJAR’S A SÔNIA
The Elba Benítez Gallery in Madrid is currently hosting an exhibition of photographs from A Sônia, a project by Claudia Andujar (Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1931), created in 1971. This body of work stands as one of the most significant early explorations into the creative manipulation of the photographic snapshot. For this occasion, the exhibition focuses on a carefully curated selection of images that establish a dialogue of balance, intensity, and chromatic richness with the surrounding space.
By the early 1970s, Andujar had already earned recognition as a documentary photographer. Her anthropological work for the magazine Realidade had positioned her as one of the most respected figures in the field. A Sônia marked an experimental turning point for the Brazilian artist, enabling her to explore the transformative potential of the then-emerging techniques of photographic editing in an expressive and radical manner.
In 1971, Andujar met by chance a young woman who had come to São Paulo seeking work as a model and was preparing her portfolio. This encounter quickly evolved into a multifaceted artistic project. From the work’s distinctly female perspective to its embrace of exploration as an empowering act, the resulting photographs radiated a sense of naturalness that stood in stark contrast to the conventions of fashion photography.
The spontaneity and certain naïveté in the model’s presence prompted Andujar to approach the project with fresh eyes, taking numerous photographs that would later undergo intensive post-production. Her experimentation with both negatives and positives allowed for a second layer of aesthetic interpretation—one that revealed new meanings in each portrait, each moment. Movements, both accidental and intentional, shifts in framing, and especially the use of bold and exuberant color interventions, gave rise to works of striking visual power and marked spontaneity.
Through this departure from defined visual norms, Andujar arrived at a body of work that feels illusory and dreamlike—detached from conventional reality and charged with sensuality and artistic force. Each image evolves beyond its original intent, becoming an intrinsic part of a creative process that culminates in a photograph whose essence no longer resides in the moment it captures, but in the transformation, it has undergone to become fully itself.
Claudia Andujar. A Sônia is on view through July 31 at the Elba Benítez Gallery, San Lorenzo 11, Madrid, Spain.
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