Friends of Aperture - United in solidarity.

Art, and within it photography, can have several purposes, not only to delight the eye and the soul, or to be a form of expression for artists. Art can do marvellous things, including solidarity.

That art, understood in this way, is used for this purpose or has as its aim something beyond painting or personal satisfaction, makes it even more important.

Recently I went again to one of my favourite galleries, El Ateneo, where the art exhibitions are constantly being renewed, many of them are only on show for a month and I have to hurry so as not to miss any of them.

The work they do for artists is amazing, because they are able to present known artists as well as new ones and make them known. Admission is always free, so I think the cultural work they do is very important and I like to spread the word about all the work they do in this way.

On this occasion I bring you a photography exhibition, where more than 30 artists come together to donate a work to be auctioned on a special day, in this case the auction was on the 28th of November, and where all the proceeds were to be donated to the Vicente Ferrer Foundation and the projects that this foundation has in Kathmandu and Nepal.

Attending this photography exhibition I realise that these artists have been doing this great work for many years, and this time they are celebrating 30 years of sharing photography in this way.

I not only want to highlight the beauty of the photographs on display in this exhibition but also the purpose for which they are made and the great work that is carried out, so that each artist is doing his bit to help those who need a helping hand. This is also the reason why I spread the word about this exhibition, to let people know not only about these artists and their generosity but also that these things exist, they are done in reality and people collaborate.

Of course this photo exhibition was no exception and I had, in most cases, to struggle with the reflections, but with a small angle I was able to capture them all and bring them here.

All the photographs were printed, as art prints, but I could notice that some of them were printed on canvas or for example on Japanese paper. Others were analogue prints, others with pigmented inks, others were prints on cotton paper with passe-partout. The variety was great, as was the style and subject matter of the photographs.

Of course, if you have a favourite, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. And I'll let you know that one of my favourites is the last one. But I have also loved several others, all scenes of everyday life or photographs of country buildings, like the one you see where there are stone houses. I think I really like the simpler and more realistic ones.

Why I like the last one so much is not only because of the colours, but because it talks about an everyday situation of a time at the beach, but on a very hot day and how that heat distorts the photograph. You see that a lot on the roads, but also in the beach area where sand, beach, sea and the intense sun can produce that effect.

In this case I took two photographs, one at an angle, where the name appears below and the other one from the front, I was lucky that I didn't have to discard it because of the reflection.

You can see that each artist has their own way, their own style, and I was delighted with the variety on this occasion, and even more so with the purpose, as I said before, of this exhibition. I am delighted to bring it to you all.

Thank you very much for joining me today, I wish you a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.