María del Rosario Montero

Born in 1978 in Santiago, Chile
Lives and works in London, UK

My interests on artistic creation lie on what I call the portrait photography by omission. That is to say, the photography of objects whose worn out quality and condition constitute a portrait of the people they belong to. With this goal in mind, I produce a series of objects photographed in the same constant pattern of acts, enabling the differences to appear by comparison and thus constituting the portrait of those who own said objects.

The portrait I’m after is quite far from smiles and poses. I look for the hidden, the unseen, that which the photograph freezes and reveals. My goal is to photograph objects we use on a daily basis: shoes, clothing, sheets, pillows, books, etc. taking them out of their regular environment and giving them a new meaning. Through such set of pre-established events and equal framing, the differences between the objects start to appear, as do the elements which constitute the owner’s identity: age, sex, social condition and other more subjective features.

Exhibtions
2011 – Xile:Fotografía y Convivencia – Barcelona, España.
2011 – Fotograma 11 – Montevideo, Uruguay.
2011 – Desviaciones: Photographic Intervention of Public Spaces – Santiago, Chile.
2011 – Antología Visual (Invited Artist) – Museum of Contemporary Art. (MAC) Santiago.
2010 – Territorios independientes – México City.
2010 – ¿Dónde el paisaje? – Valparaíso, Chile.
2010 – Photography of the Country – Chile Image, Expo Shanghai, China.
2010 – Identidades forzadas – Centro Cultural Estación Mapocho. Santiago, Chile.
2010 – Taller Dittborn – Galería D21. Santiago, Chile.
2009 – Cohortes – MAC. Parque Forestal, Santiago, Chile.