Omar Said presents the exhibition ‘Vestigios’ in Mérida

The photographs are “radiographs of an act of displacement”, says the artist

Merida, Yucatan, (October 08, 2021).- The passage of time through urban spaces and architecture; how cities have changed, buildings or monuments that are no longer present, but which were captured in a photograph or elements that go unnoticed by people due to the hustle and bustle of life: this is what Omar Said Charruf portrays with his new photographic exhibition Vestigios , which opened its doors on September 29 and will be available for two months at the Comedor Cultural Amaro, located in downtown Mérida. 

In an interview, the Yucatecan artist commented that this exhibition is part of his personal project Atlas, which began in 2018, and is made up of 20 digital photographs of various urban and architectural spaces from various points of some cities in Yucatan and of the world. 

Through the images, the work reflects the modern ruin through the interpretation of space tours. “X-rays of a displacement are treated,” he said. 

Omar Said captures these images with his lens during his photography walk, moving through various points “adrift”.  

“The physical features of the images have to do with brutalist architecture, concrete buildings, signs that are passing and mutating over time,” he explained.

In the case of Mérida, he said that in some of his photos you can see the pre-Hispanic footprint that is suggested in some spaces, for example, an image of the replica of the Chichén Itzá Observatory that he captured in abandoned lands, next to the Zoo Centennial. 

Also, at another point in the Yucatecan capital, he was able to portray some stairs of some wineries, which matching the shadows and sunlight, the photo appears to be a Mayan pyramid. 

“They are moments, ephemeral situations, many times there are certain elements that with the passage of time collapse or change due to the urban area, and on many occasions the light generates volume, shadows and more things that we do not commonly capture,” the artist said. 

Source: La Jornada Maya

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