FRANCISCO RICARTE

In Hong Kong West Cultural District

“Seeing the light” may be understood as looking at the visual balance between lightened, shadowed, and dark areas, but also to focus on the light source - natural or artificial - and how it shapes what surrounds us. It may also be a metaphor for what reasons human condition. “Light” - or its absence – may translate what we understand or not.

Photography of nature and built structures are of great significance to Art. The perception of light through photography has been chased for long, almost since its creation. It allows us to see “material bodies” that may differ through time and circumstances. Also, in photography, light and what is shown - being by reflection, shaping new forms or hidden – is represented in different ways and acquires diversified meanings.

Further to the notion of time in photography, I’ve been also chasing light through this media, trying to understand it as an art expression. Such chase has been driving me through a thin balance between looking for the presence of light in visual culture and its relevancy in one’s artwork. Light also fosters the presence and relevancy of shadow; they represent opposite forces with specific reasons and purposes in photography.

In brief, searching for the meaning and possibilities of light is the purpose of this “Seeing the Light” photobook.

He woke up that night without realizing where he was

(21 days of another reality)

It seemed a strange place, as much as he was feeling “out of himself”. Outside, dark night, spotlight strobes were visible, and the movements seemed mechanic and indistinguishable. Where was he? What kind of place was that? How many further nights would be necessary for him to understand the place and realizing his mood? For how long would he keep feeling this mood”?

Night - day - night - day - night - day - night - night - night...

Diverse and undistinguishable feeling moods were flowing within his mind, making him balance between acute perception and half-consciousness. Did they make any kind of sense?... What was he feeling? Would it be anxiety, hope, desire, anger, ununderstanding, unbalance, or something else? Would it just be the desire for freedom? He was not sure...

Days were followed by nights, and both seemed to be hopeless and with no ending... Did those days and those nights make any sense?...

Treasure Hotel - designated mandatory quarantine hotel to enter in Macau, from 5th to 25th January 2022.

ANGKOR

Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, is a fascinating place. The surrounding forest that literally engulfed the buildings and temples for centuries, is still present and remains a key factor in the perception of these structures.

On the contrary, expressions of the former human presence within these built structures tend to fade and remain hidden to our contemporary eyes and means of understanding… Stones and pinnacles, similar to unique trees, allow us to perceive a territory that reaches its full potential at dawn or dusk. The reason for such perception may lie in the need to counterbalance – or make a synthesis – of a vision of enchanting and complex shapes, human figures and volumes that overwhelm us.

ANGKOR photographic series (2018) proposes a personal view of a unique place, held in magic days of rediscover of a space, built forms and enchanted territory. The photographs assume, more than a straight description of Angkor Wat temples, a particular balance of see-and-hide volumes and their powerful shades that allow us perceiving Angkor, more than reading it.

“Earth’s color” # photographic series looks at Capelinhos area, in Faial Island, Açores, where a volcano erupted in 1957/58. Although nature - sea and wind, further to human’s action, are already shaping the area’s upon ending of eruption, it is still understood as a “no man’s land”: volcanic ashes and lack of vegetation are prevailing, which deeply contrasts with adjoining dense forest areas and Faial Island landscape, in general.

Former human settlement was almost entirely destroyed but a lighthouse, now about 300 meters inland. The ruin was recently revamped to host a museum and interpretation center.

The photographic series was shot in 2017 and aims to highlight such site condition and evidence of a new land being shaped, where “color” is almost monochromatic or, at least, tone prevailing. As such, the photos are also monochromatic, reflecting a personal understanding and view of the area and its visual presence. In brief, aiming to reflect on an amazing and fascinating “earth’s color”.

“Lighter Than Air #” reflecte sobre a persistência da memória que nos constrói, expresa pelo que é evanescente: uma linha de luz, o “fogo do mar” que aparenta consumi-lo, a textura (fria) gerada pelo vento sobre um plano aparentemente imóvel, a perturbação gerada por uma singularidade ou objecto estranho, mas não esse objecto estranho. Enfim, o olhar para o que não é material mas sim assumidamente etéreo e imagético, tal como a memória e sua sedimentação singular.

Como em tudo, algumas memórias evanescem ou adquirem novas significações; outras, ao invés, acentuam-se e evidenciam-se de forma cada vez mais marcante, revelando-se autênticas referências da nossa existência…

“Quiet day” # series

“See you There” #1 - #12

Visions of Hac Sa trail, Macau S.A.R.

“Other Places” #01 to #06

“Other Places” photographic series deals with the presence of light and how it shapes the sites and objects under it, being landscaped areas or man-made structures. Light (or its absence) has an outstanding diverse persistence and vibration that allows us to understand what surrounds us in radical different ways, as it has the capability to shape nature, to control our way of seeing it, thus, our capability of realizing what surrounds us.

I’ve been chasing “light” through photography and trying to understand it as a meaning for enlightening and self-expression. Such chase has been driving me to look at various places through a thin balance between the understanding of its “light” and how it shapes those places under different environmental conditions.

As we are aware, light has a basic reason and purpose in photography that we need to challenge ourselves when interpreting different places. In brief, “light” was the drive for searching such “other (non-familiar) places” and provide through this series my view and understanding of them.

Dreamland (Homesick diaries) # series

Visions of Macau # series

“Lisboa Night - #1 to #5”

“Casino Lisboa” is a paradigm of XXth Century Macau and its urban shape. It is also a physical evidence of Stanley Ho’s legacy in Macau and its gaming activity. The photo series – “Lisboa Night - #1 to #5” was taken on June 2020, under particular circumstances: Macau with almost no tourists due Covid 19 lockdown, and on the week of Stanley Ho’s passing away, when most of building’s iconic lighting signs were dimmed or shut down.

By looking at the building’s “darkness” and “emptiness”, the photo series conveys a symbolic (dark) view of challenges that Macau and its gaming industry are currently experiencing.

“Unnoticeable objects” photo series (#1 to #9) looks at apparently simple and plain objects, being natural or manufactured, located on Macau’s nature trails, in Coloane. The series highlights a personal vision of such peculiar objects, enhancing their singular presence within surrounding nature and landscaped scenery.

Do these “unnoticeable objects” shape the trails or are their perception shaped by surrounding presence of nature? Do these photos also highlight the significance of such “unnoticeable objects” in shaping our vision and perception of Macau’s landscaped areas?

The photos were taken on early months of 2020, upon regaining access to Coloane trails due to confinement situation. Resulting colour palette is also a praise to Macau’s nature and how we should treasure it.

https://pontofinalmacau.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/pelos-trilhos-de-coloane-em-epoca-de-confinamento/

“Between Tradition & Hypermodernity”

series #1 to #27

Shenzhen Days #series

The photographer looked at the courtyard of the building with astonishment: it was apparently enclosed, however, allowed subtle views towards the outside, in particular to the open sky.

Such balance between confinement and openness was achieved through thin architectural elements: white columns that, by their simplicity and space distribution, managed the built form to “float” around and above us.

Such columns became fascinating visual tools through, not only on the way they support the building, but above all, how they shape the surrounding space. Further, their clear form and whiteness, enhanced by the direct sunlight that focused on several of them, made that space around such white columns became “dark” or non-existent, thus allowing the columns to shine in their full potential and significance.

The series was shot in Shenzhen, China, in 2019 and processed in 2021. B&W became fundamental to shape their form and representation, by focusing on individuality and persistence on light contrast and synthetics. Further, it may also be understood as a metaphor of openness and closeness that we are currently experiencing.

“The Other Side” # series reflects on the power of the sea and its role as a “message conveyer” of one’s emotions, hopes, expectations, however, also of our concerns and worries…

“ #3” photograph is a detailed view of the sea and how it reflects the light, creating a specific “pattern texture” that may be the code to “read” the other photographs, thus to support the viewer’s understanding of the series.

The photographs, although taken in daylight, were processed as “nightscapes” to enhance our understanding of Coloane’s sea and its particular atmosphere and contour, perhaps not so obvious in daylight conditions.

About the exhibition: https://pontofinalmacau.wordpress.com/2021/01/04/intercambio-de-artistas-de-macau-e-de-taiwan-em-exposicao-na-casa-museu-do-dr-sun-yat-sen/

Osaka # series

Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), one of the greatest German artists, noted that the painter depicts not “what he sees before him, but what he sees within him”. This outstanding statement of how our eyes (our mind) sees and understands the reality of nature and its beauty, even if it may be affected by unexpected changes, is the key drive of the photo series “Somewhere”.

“Somewhere” is not about specific places – they may be anywhere - but how we perceive their nature and presence, even if populated by evidences of man-made action. In brief, the series utterly reflects the “within silence” and sublime presence of a number of places which caught the photographer’s attention and, hopefully, yours as well..

“Somewhere” is the outcome of a number of visits to “other places”, some far some close by, which were carried out within the last decade. Further to portraying the seen “raw” nature, the series portrays their “within silence” and presence. In brief, “Somewhere” is about places which stand before us, however, waiting to be seen within us.

https://pontofinalmacau.wordpress.com/.../francisco.../

https://hojemacau.com.mo/2018/02/22/francisco-antonio-ricarte-arquitecto-e-fotografo-fotografo-o-que-sinto-sobre-o-que-vejo/

Somewhere #2 - series - Japan

“Somewhere” #3 - Azores series

in the beginning - Celebration series #

Macau's never-ending “Under construction” process - # ongoing series

Perhaps there are not that many cities in the world as Macau, where the uncertainties with regard to its future may be so WIDE and OPEN, being towards wealth and improvement of citizen’s life standards that we all hope for, or on an inverse path by widening its social and economic constrains and urban challenges.

Land reclamation is a critical ongoing process, where city shape and land availability is currently being dramatically reshaped. Also, casino resort developments are focus of recent Macau urban development, being on its economic profile or physical expression. Their scale, architectural themes and location will define Macau’s urban image in the coming future.

However, even if “buildings to be” (such as a mock-up of a resort’s façade), casinos outline their “instant nature” – comprised of modular elements, apparently, with no notion of genius loci (spirit of the place), appropriate scale, or site content.

“Under construction” series, thus, may be understood as a metaphorical example of the challenges that Macau may face in the near future.

Highlands # series

Similar to Joseph Conrad’s vision of the Congo River, there are other mysterious and hard to foresee rivers, due to their almost “opaque ambience” that can also produce on us a particular feeling when discovering them, in particular their margins.

“Heart of Light – Lijiang River” is a series reflecting about a river close to Guilin, China, and some of the outstanding “objects” and natural shapes perceived along it – the hidden boat, the singular tree, the wall, the resting spot, a ramp or a staircase to nowhere…

Contrary to its recognized tourist destination (almost no “unchartered territory” is expected to be there found), Lijiang River and its margins, reveal a particular “heart of light” which make “objects” appear under unexpected circumstances, surrounded and shaped by a peculiar shadow, or forest or by its peculiar site topography.

Wisdom # series - Ryoan-ji, Kyoto, Japan

Homesick Diaries #

Macau, 2021

a series around the concept of building a micro-reality

Homesick Landscapes #1 to #6

“Quando o templo se esvazia

Então brilha

Esplêndido”

José Tolentino Mendonça

Poucas manifestações culturais comuns à humanidade serão tão marcantes e perenes como religião. As suas expressões físicas, designadamente os templos e igrejas que materializam essas manifestações e, ao mesmo tempo, albergam essa identidade cultural, constituem repositórios dos símbolos e formas de um entendimento do ser humano enquanto pertença de um ente supremo, um Deus, se assim o quisermos designar.

A exposição fotográfica “EmCasa / HomeLand” ocorrida em Dezembro 2022 na galeria da Residência Consular de Portugal em Macau, consistiu numa evocação emocional e visual introspectiva de territórios que têm sido redescobertos pelo autor em diversas viagens de retorno ao país que o viu nascer e acolheu, previamente à sua fixação em Macau.

Mais do que evidências documentais, a série fotográfica exposta procura evidenciar registos de um tempo e espaço não precisos ou referenciados em detalhe: mais que “momentos decisivos”, a série procura registar momentos emocionais decisivos, registando, não só o que se vê, mas também o que se sente.

Como redescoberta, os registos que se expõem são marcados por uma nostalgia visual e procura de um tempo de equilíbrio e pausa. Como visão introspectiva, assumem a emoção sentida nesses locais percorridos, onde o equilíbrio das formas naturais e edificadas singulares conformam a identidade desses espaços, ainda e sempre sentidos como “a sua casa”.

Porventura, os registos fotográficos terão sido conformados, como contraponto, com a realidade visual que nos envolve, designadamente a fascinante e vibrante Ásia, e Macau em particular. Estes registos evidenciam espaços profundamente naturalizados e de um equilíbrio de sentidos prevalecente. A harmonia dos espaços descobre-se e surge espontaneamente, quer nas suas formas, quer na paleta cromática que evidenciam.

Evidenciando a prevalência dos sentidos, a proposta musical que completa a exposição realça os aspectos de equilíbrio, harmonia e introspecção dos registos fotográficos. São visões complementares que se interlaçam e evidenciam um conceito de equilíbrio transcendente.

In mankind expression, since early ages, the “hand” has been used as a symbol of human existence and creativity. When a hand (and its arm) seems moving to a point or to grab what is close by, it may also symbolize the search for something different or out of its environment, meaning, it further represents an intention to use, mix or to blend different objects, cultures, ways of expression, influences, amongst other mankind expressions.

Through such dynamic blending of different cultures and materials, Art expression aims to bring different possibilities, creative expressions, forms, or textures, fostering the creation of new ideals and new human expectations. “Fusion” may then occur and be a positive outcome when dealing with different paradigms, allowing for multiple ways of making, seeing or understanding Art.

“Sino-French fusion” in the case of “The Hand collage” series #01 to #07 may allegorically occur through the interaction of paradigms of both cultures such as the red color on one side (auspicious, life-generating energy and prosperity) and golden "cracklet" color on the other (classical expression of spiritual and ethereal figures). Both support and justify the moving and grabbing hand that, symbolically, generates a creative fusion process.