ABOUT

Jesus Duran’s goal is to discover the essence of the person they’re trying to shoot through the use of collage and by finding a balance between intentionalism and naturalism.

In regards to his process, Jesus says “I cut out the images, and try to fit each individual picture and find the best composition – through the use of directional lines, angles, body language and movement – without overdoing it. To better transition between sections and instill a better flow, I rip and burn some of the edges. Once I have everything, I scan them, and after the scanning process I re-edit the photos to further unify them. My goal is to reflect on the space that I'm in. If the environment is simple, my collages reflect that; But other times, I use them to capture the climax of the event and make you relive the moment.”

Street culture plays a big part of the subject matter he chooses to exhibit. As he puts it, “Whether you like it or understand it, culture is culture. My goal isn’t to judge, or create a narrative, but give people an avenue to see another side of the city — a side they might not normally be exposed to, unless they’re directly in it. Within street culture, people create motifs for themselves or they take mass manufactured clothing and add their own unique aesthetic to it. They take all these signifiers and conflate these items into something that's personal to them and illustrates who they are as an individual. My job is simply to capture that.”

You can take the “middle finger” to the camera, as an example of this. Although it carries a negative connotation within mainstream society, street culture has co-opted it precisely because of this negative interpretation. It's a retaliatory message to those who judge street culture without taking the time to understand the very culture they’re critiquing.