Juan Orrantia is a Columbian Photographer, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, who primarily takes high contrast colour photographs, including many organic shapes, and warm colours. His photography project titled 'Like stains of Red Dirt', was inspired by the his move to Johannesburg, which he did in order to study visual anthropology. According to Orrantia, in the first two years after he started the photography project, he took mostly bad photographs for 2 years, as he was trying to develop a sense of the new city he moved to, which is completely different from the city he lived prior to his move. He initially started taking photographs of everyday mundane objects, he noticed the natural light in his house, and the shadows it casts. He later also began to experiment with materials such as cellophane , as well as manipulating the lights in his house, to create unnatural colours like pinks, blues and yellows. As a result of Orrantias fascination with lights and colour, he took most of the photographs from the book, in his house.
This photograph by Orrantia is an example of the types of photographs he take. This image is very vibrant and colourful, and has lots of unique textures, throughout the photograph. We can see that this is one of the photographs where Orrantia uses artificial colours, to create very colourful, and unnatural shadows. The complementary colours of purple, and yellow have been used, to make the shadows stand out, and to make them appear very vibrant. It can be seen that the and of the model, and what appears to be a curtain, are all all very close to the wall, meaning everything is in focus. This may have been done so the texture of the wall can be seen in the background. I believe that the texture of the wall may have been important to Orrantia, as it is similar to the texture of the red dirt, which is common in South Africa, and is what the book is named after. Although the image appears to be very multi coloured, there are only a handful of different colours, the main ones being pink, purple, orange and brown. Orrantia revealed that the colour used in the book, is a metaphor, for race, and refers to the colour bias of early Kodak films.
Questions about Juan Orrantia-
What are his interests?
Due to his background, in usual anthropology, he takes interest in the countries representation, and its history. He knew that the history of the place was never going to be his, however, he claims it has touched in many ways.
What are his concerns?
He is concerned about the issue of colour, which has been a problematic area for South Africa, and its history for many years. Colour is what defined the history of the place, yet historically, it has also misinterpreted the continent.
How did he start recording his experiences?
He initially started to record his experience by taking photographs of his family, their home and its surroundings.
What changed during the process of his photography?
During the beginning, he took advantage of natural light sources, which painted his walls ini sunsets and twilights, eventually he began to experiment with different materials.
How and why did he change the course of his investigation?
He noted that in colour photography, just like in many other areas of South Africas history, the early emulsion colour film technology, formed a racial bias.
How did he make his transition as seamless as possible?
To make his transition as seamless as possible, he formed his life in this new place. His partner also lived there, and their cold was born there, meaning he was able to create his Owen memories this new place he lived.
Is there an element of his photography that became important towards the end?
Towards the end, the project represents an accumulation of feelings, anxieties, fears and histories. These are all fragmented moments and the photographs look different, colour is what holds them together. It is also about the subtleties that came through everything else in life. Due to everything having different sides, its about what we wee, and how we choose to see it.
What are his interests?
Due to his background, in usual anthropology, he takes interest in the countries representation, and its history. He knew that the history of the place was never going to be his, however, he claims it has touched in many ways.
What are his concerns?
He is concerned about the issue of colour, which has been a problematic area for South Africa, and its history for many years. Colour is what defined the history of the place, yet historically, it has also misinterpreted the continent.
How did he start recording his experiences?
He initially started to record his experience by taking photographs of his family, their home and its surroundings.
What changed during the process of his photography?
During the beginning, he took advantage of natural light sources, which painted his walls ini sunsets and twilights, eventually he began to experiment with different materials.
How and why did he change the course of his investigation?
He noted that in colour photography, just like in many other areas of South Africas history, the early emulsion colour film technology, formed a racial bias.
How did he make his transition as seamless as possible?
To make his transition as seamless as possible, he formed his life in this new place. His partner also lived there, and their cold was born there, meaning he was able to create his Owen memories this new place he lived.
Is there an element of his photography that became important towards the end?
Towards the end, the project represents an accumulation of feelings, anxieties, fears and histories. These are all fragmented moments and the photographs look different, colour is what holds them together. It is also about the subtleties that came through everything else in life. Due to everything having different sides, its about what we wee, and how we choose to see it.