Monday, June 11, 2007
Justin Julius Santos:Meeting Strangers
Justin has a certain magic in his personality that brings hidden things out of people that they didn’t even know were there. He has an uncanny ability to see people for what they are and what they could be, inside and out. […] When these strangers come to be photographed, Justin is able to capture the hidden things he perceived in initial meeting, the things that other people don’t see. That is just part of his magic.
-Chyi Soo
-Justin Julius Santos’ “Meeting Strangers” is an joy to behold. The photographer is just not satisfied being limited to one style throughout; he enjoys experimenting with a wide variety of visual techniques. In a semi-documentary, diary style he mixes up colour photos, Polaroids, black-and-white shots and in doing so delivers new surprises on every page. At no time do these images seem staged. The authenticity of Sontos’ photography is reminiscent of the work of Nan Goldin, yet at the same time are recognisable due to their unmistakable style.
His photographs were created in short sessions with the models that he met on the street. Only taken within the confines of private residences, the artist forgets the outside world focussing solely on the inner life of his models. Within a few hours he’d developed photographs of enormous intensity, sexual tension and playful youthful posing. (Still) a true insider’s tip!
Justin Julius Santos lives and works in Los Angeles as a fashion photographer. The autodidact has worked in both the USA and in Europe over the past 15 years. According to him it is the “sensuality of youth” that make his photographs so fascinating and that characterize his creative work. Santos is definitely one of the most interesting new discoveries of the past year!
Photobook, hardcover, 96 pages, 18 * 24,5 cm, 7 * 9.5 inch
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