The Spanish artist Seigar, known for his vivid and saturated photos, was kind enough to submit a gallery of black and white renderings of photos from his collection titled “Tales of a City II.” Seigar notes that he is not working with double exposures; he photographs his subjects through the reflection on the glass of what’s behind him.
Here is a gallery of his work that you’ll be seeing around Coffin Bell:
Like his work? Follow him on Facebook and Instagram. Want to learn more? Read his recent interviews here and here.
Bio: Seigar is an English philologist, a high school teacher, and a curious photographer. He is a fetishist for reflections, saturated colors, details and religious icons. He feels passion for pop culture that shows in his series. He considers himself a traveler and an urban street photographer. His aim as an artist is to tell tales with his camera, to capture moments but trying to give them a new frame and perspective. Travelling is his inspiration. However, he tries to show more than mere postcards from his visits, creating a continuous conceptual line story from his trips. The details and subject matters come to his camera once and once again, almost becoming an obsession. His three most ambitious projects so far are his “Plastic People”, a study on anthropology and sociology that focuses on the humanization of the mannequins he finds in the shop windows all over the world, “Response to Ceal Floyer for the Summer Exhibition” a conceptual work that understands art as a form of communication, and his “Tales of a city”, an ongoing series taken in London. He usually covers public events with his camera showing his interest for social documentary photography. He has participated in several exhibitions, and his works have also been featured in international publications. He writes for The Cultural Magazine (Spain) about photography and for Memoir Mixtapes about music (L.A.).
Artist Statement: “Tales of a City II” is an urban series made of individual tales from London, in 2017. Each image captures a photo-narrative. It must be considered a set of street photography. Most of them are spontaneous instants. They are linked because of the saturated colors, details and free compositions, far from rules. It is a continuation to a group of photos taken in 2014. This year, I went back to my favorite city and I realized I have captured the same motifs and elements that I took in the previous trip. In these tales, you find reflections, shop windows, plastic people, messages, words, abandoned objects, lines, geometry, shadows, lights, food and people. This is London for me. The old city becomes young in my tales; this is how I look at it. There is always something unexpected going on and here you have the proofs.
Artist Statement: My Plastic People.
This set belongs to my most personal, serious and ambitious project so far. I try to give dignity and humanity to the plastic people around the world. As a street and travel photographer, I have had the chance to take photos of shop windows in many cities, and there I have found the inspiration for these images. They tell me tales and stories about life. They always show me their human substance. Every photo creates a fantasy. Their faces, looks, eyes, clothes, shadows, and reflections portray them as the modern society.
In this selection, we find these beautiful women surrounded by reflections of their cities. Reflections always help me to make complex photographs. I’m not afraid of complexity. I like getting richness. I don’t try to follow conventional compositions. I just keep loyal to my eye. If I need to break rules to show an image, I just do it. I feel my plastic people are free. There is even some chaos in the worlds I portray.
These ladies seem all to be feeling different emotions or sensations, such as confidence, arrogance, sadness, dreaming stare or challenging poses. Viewers can realize there is a human touch inside them. My intention is the humanization of mannequins found in shops. I feel the need to make them talk to the world. They all have a message to say. My visions are just the way they have to speak, working as a channel.
My visions have been influenced by pop culture. I have been attracted to the works of unique and strong artists. I guess they have deeply inspired me, even though you cannot see directly their prints in my photographs. What you can see is that I conceive art as a passion. I refer to artists such as the cinema makers like Pedro Almodóvar, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Aldrich, Quentin Tarantino or Lars Von Trier. In the music and performance category, I feel devotion for the threesome Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince. Then, Frida Kahlo, Dalí, Picasso and Warhol are the painters that obsess me. The best photographer in the world right now is Mister Martin Parr; I must confess “he is the one”. All these artists share something in common; I will call it strong views.
I have been participating in exhibitions and been featured in international magazines with this project. My Plastic People have become an essential part of my street photography. I owe them the world. I would like to keep on travelling to find more characters for these tales. It’s so inspiring when I get to a new city, town or a village; and I go around walking, looking for them, the reflections, the saturated colors, the buildings and architecture behind them, the lights and shadows…It’s exciting!
There is also a cultural aspect in them. They sort of represent the people from the country they were taken. Their mood, clothes, body awareness issues or make up show the traditions, beliefs and even values from the places. I would like to end this short essay about them, stating the universal human quality of this project, because as I said before, they have become portraits of our modern society. There is an analogy with the human nature.
Top 25 Horror Movies by Seigar.
I present here my unconventional and mixed list of my all-time favorite horror movies. Most of them are psychological thrillers with a horror mask like Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Strait-Jacket or The Skin I love in, but you can also find some nice red blood, films like Carrie, Hostel or Saw will satisfy the puritans. Sense of humor is also present in the list like in the bitterness of Sweeney Todd or in the hilarious Little Shop of Horrors. New horror touch is represented by the unique The Host and the postmodern It Follows. Sisters occupies number one because I can’t think of a bloodier and more disturbing movie.
- Sisters (1972)
- Carrie (1976)
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
- Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
- The Skin I live in (2011)
- Psycho (1960)
- The Omen (1976)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
- Strait-Jacket (1964)
- Hostel (2005)
- Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
- The Blair Witch Project (1999)
- The Host (2006)
- Hangover Square (1945)
- 28 Days Later… (2002)
- Grindhouse (2007)
- Saw (2004)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- Lady in the Water (2006)
- The Birds (1963)
- Alien (1979)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- It follows (2015)