Fernando Guerra: Double Exposure

Curated by Andreia Garcia Double Exposure seeks to explore 20 years of the career of Fernando Guerra through two dimensions—the man and the work—starting from the specific point of the multi-layered path forged through journeys in solitude.

The exhibition is about Fernando Guerra and his serene conceptual process; a natural antidote to the anguish of any creator who is confronted every day with the difficulty and mystery of defining beauty. Rather it persists and is pursued because it does not debase, anticipating instead new forms of language in architectural photography.

Fernando Guerra maintains the foundations of his training: the art of seeing; of knowing how to see innocently and unconsciously proving that in the eyes of those who see nothing, nothing can be expected.

According to the curator, Guerra dignifies human life in architecture; the liveability of projects beyond the frames occupied by the emptiness of the walls that bear shadows cast on lucky days, at the expected angle in front of the tripod. It’s at this point that he becomes restless and, never losing his innocence, loses himself, discovering and capturing what is new.

With his assertive eye, the architect-photographer teaches us to see architecture, to look for angles, alignments and coincidences, and in this way directly impacts the processes of thinking about and making architecture today. In Fernando Guerra’s images, architecture is centre stage, the locus of action: the narrative he creates is the pretext for talking about architecture, through experience and emotion rather than through rigour and abstraction. When Fernando Guerra introduces the human presence in architectural photography—from figures to sharp silhouettes—he also introduces the body as a unit of measurement, thus attributing scale and experience to the architectural form that had previously been conveyed in a naked and sterile manner. Therefore, the object captured by Fernando Guerra expresses serenity, like its author, and innocence, like its author’s creative spirit. This is why it is remarkable. This is why this work, which celebrates 20 years, has never been mistaken. This is why it is timeless. 

As an architect in transit and as a ubiquitous photographer, Fernando Guerra divides his time around the world. And so, this is an exhibition that crops parts of the paths of Fernando Guerra’s 20-year map, through the objects he collects, as well as the multiple places he introduces to us. 

[Parts of this text are taken from the curatorial essay by Andreia Garcia for the exhibition.]