Santiago Gonzalez Redondo
@sgrvisuals
Best of the week 46 at #nomadict 2021
My name is Santiago and I am a Photographer, Filmmaker and Visual Artist born in Argentina and currently living in Australia. I have always had a thirst for adventure and travel since I was a teenager. The sole idea of spending my whole life in just one place and not exploring the vast and diverse world around us didn’t make sense to me.
This mindset encouraged me to obtain my first Degree in Travel & Tourism Management and have my first professional experience as a Tour Leader in Patagonia at the age of 21, a period that has strongly impacted the next years of my life. This was the first time I picked up a camera and started to share my vision of the world through the lens, feeling completely inspired by the landscape and wildlife of the region.
My time working as a Tour Leader taught me how important it is to do research prior to arriving at your destination, ensuring you will make the most out of your visit and that you won’t miss any important attractions or events. Checking the weather conditions, learning the history of the local community and being aware of certain regulations will help you avoid inconvenient scenarios.
Once I caught the travel bug it was impossible to stop and my further travels took me through Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia, being this the place that gave me the determination to pursue photography as a career. Being exposed to such a different and unique culture, sparked my passion for travel and documentary photography.
"I devoted my 6 months in Southeast Asia to purely explore some of the most remote villages and to connect with the local communities and their stories."
In documentary photography, a smile and a relaxed body language can go a long way, especially when the language is a barrier. This is a great first approach that will make the people around you feel much more at ease with your presence and that is key in order to capture their essence. I always learn a few basic words in their language as that shows my commitment and genuine interest in them and their stories. These months in southeast Asia were a time of non-interrupted exploration and documentation and a clear proof that photography and storytelling is my purpose.
After this life-changing experience, I moved back to Australia to focus on my photography career. My first year in Australia gave me a hint of how wonderful and full of opportunities this land is. Together with the amazing connections I made, it was reason enough to move back here. I have been exploring its vast territory and documenting it over the past four years, having provoked within me a big love and interest for nature, the outdoors and the local minorities. I have been honoured to see my work published on the cover of local travel magazines and tourism boards. Australia has become my second home and the perfect base to bounce back after each of my travels.
My time as a travel photographer has taught me how much planning, dedication and skill goes behind every single piece of art we put out into the world. There are countless hours of research, miles driven to reach a destination and brainstorming to come up with a story that will resonate with the viewer. So if you’re going down this path, be ready for early mornings, late nights, scarce hours of sleep but countless and invaluable memories to share!
In the creative industry, learning and growing are non-negotiable in order to succeed and those who are willing to try, fail and improve along the way will be rewarded in the long run. My reason to start photography was curiosity and that same reason is the one that pushes me to try new techniques and become a better artist taking inspiration from other people’s work and connecting with like-minded individuals.
“Dream-Catchers” is one of my most beloved artworks up to date and is an ode to the early risers that wake up every morning to chase their dreams and make them come true. It was taken in the coastal village of El Palmar, in southern Spain on an autumn morning while the first sun rays were reflected on the water.
At the moment of this shot there was a dreamy atmosphere that I later emphasized in the post-production. I decided to place the source of light, the surfers and their reflection in the same line to get an overall balanced composition and to draw the viewer’s attention to the centre of the image.
"The outcome that I wanted to achieve was a surreal scenario of the surfers being enlightened on their way in/out of the ocean, showing that when someone is in their element life turns into a fantasy dream."
The post-processing has played a big part in this piece and has been the biggest takeaway to teach me that in this era of digital photography, editing is as important as on site shooting. Having all these skills in my toolbox has allowed me to enhance a moment in life and bring my vision into its fullest potential by playing with the light/shadow contrasts, symmetric reflections, sun gradients and motion blurs.
I cannot be more happy and grateful that I am able to first live these moments, and then turn my memories into a powerful image that will bring back not only the memory, but also the emotions connected to it – now and in the far future.
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