A
PUNCH
TO THE STOMACH PHOTOGRAPHER JUAN PALACIO
Juan Palacio’s work often hits you like a punch to the stomach: even if there’s nothing grotesque or truly obscene about his pictures, they can come at you like a scream. In many ways indebted to a punk essence, they bleed humanity and seem eager to share some of their secrets. If you were never to meet him, you would still get the sense that his images are propelled by honesty, which can seem scarce in fashion photography. Surely his formative years in graphic design help, a field to which he initially veered fearing he couldn’t afford to live practicing what he really loved. Happily photography’s pull was strong enough to make him take the plunge. Yet there’s a conflict between his deep attraction to the artistic aspects of fashion photography, its visual richness and the possibility of creating moments and spaces that revolve around attire, and his urge to render the ‘realness’ of human eroticism and physique, with an unflinching eye for the unique features of every inch of skin. That tension can sip into his compositions in intriguing ways, both alluring and imposing. And it pushes them to walk a tight rope between the expectations we hopelessly hold regarding beauty and ugliness. Check his portfolios: they explore and blur the limits between documentary, fashion and erotic photography, all with a penchant for suggesting questions more than answers about the possible narratives they create. As sometimes is the case in love, with his pieces what seduces you is not the feeling of knowing or understanding the totality of the scene in front of you, but the promise to keep finding new meanings to what we cannot help but feeling and doing.
By Álvaro G.
Paul Allan _ Portrait _ 2015
Paul Allan _ Portrait _ 2015
Paul Allan _ Portrait _ 2015
Texture _ 2009
Paul Allan _ Portrait _ 2015
Luisa _ Portrait _ 2016
Luisa _ Portrait _ 2016
Luisa _ Portrait _ 2016
Luisa _ Portrait _ 2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Denis Gagnon _ Portrait _2016
Kumiko Hanjo _ 2015
Clown _ Portrait _ 2009
Clown _ Portrait _ 2014
Streets _ Portraits _2004
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2007
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2007
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2007
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2007
Vanessa _ Portrait _ 2014
Vanessa _ Portrait _ 2014
Native Earth_ Portrait _ 2012
Native Earth_ Portrait _ 2012
Test _ 2015
Martina La Peligrosa _ Portrait _ 2011
Andrea _ Portrait _ 2008
Ha_happening _ Portrait _2018
Wendy Guerra _ Portrait _ 2011
Wendy Guerra _ Portrait _ 2011
Norberto’s Family _ Portrait _ 2010
Streets _ Portraits _ 2004
Street _ Portrait _ 2015
Fuck you _ Personal _ 2006
Mel’s Wake _ Portrait _ 2018
Catalina _ Portrait _ 2009
Briga _ Portrait _ 2017
Isabelle _ Portrait _ 2015
Isabelle _ Portrait _ 2015
Isabelle _ Portrait _ 2015
Identity _ Personal _ 2005
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2009
Cristina _ Portrait _ 2003
Cristina _ Portrait _ 2003
Streets _ Portrait _ 2001
Streets _ Portrait _ 2001
Streets _ Detail _ 2016
Canada _ Rural Landscapes _ 2018
Canada _ Rural Landscapes _ 2014 _ 2018
Streets _ Landscape _ 2012
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2009
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2009
Aura _ Portrait _ 2015
Aura _ Portrait _ 2015
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2009
Article 11 _ Portrait _ 2014
The Restaurant _ Portraits _ 2008
Portraits _ 2009 _ 2012
Portraits _ 2009 _ 2010
Party _ Personal _ 2012
Ha_happening _ Portrait _ 2018
Streets _ Portrait _ 2001
Streets _ Portrait _ 2001
Streets _ Portrait _ 2016
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2000
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2000
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016
Streets _ Landscape _ 2013 _ 2016
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016 _ 2012
Streets _ Landscape _ 2011
Streets _ Landscape _ 2013
Streets _ Landscape _ 2011
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016
Prison Dancer Musical _ Portrait _ 2011
Prison Dancer Musical _ Portrait _ 2011
Prison Dancer Musical _ Portrait _ 2011
Streets _ Landscape _ 2016
Streets _ Landscape _ 2018
Streets _ Landscape _ 2013
Streets _ Landscape _ 2013
Streets _ Landscape _ 2012
The Void _ Personal _ 2018
The Void _ Personal _ 2018
Aluna Theater _ Motion _ 2012
Prison Dancer Musical _ Portrait _ 2011
Prison Dancer Musical _ Portrait _ 2011
We Happy Few _ Portrait _ 2018
We Happy Few _ Portrait _ 2018
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2008
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2008
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2008
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2011
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2011
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2008
Ecosystems _ Lanscape _ 2008
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2004
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2004
Carolina _ Portrait _ 2004
Nude _ 2014
True_Self _ Portraits _ 2017
True_Self _ Portraits _ 2017
True_Self _ Portraits _ 2017
True_Self _ Portraits _ 2017
Roque Palacio_Family Portrait _ 2012
Mother _ Family portrait _ 2015
Father _ Family portrait _ 2015
http://www.kingocreative.com/