A prolific photographer whose practice has both captured and contributed to the arena of popular culture, Antonio Caballero has created a body of work that explores the rapport between images and collective imagination. The artist’s series of seductive black-and-white photographs follow the tradition of the Latin American foto novela tradition of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, a popular genre that explored themes of passion and despair through stylized photographs and sparse use of dialogue.
Caballero’s photographs tap into the spirit and subjects of the day. In addition to mirroring the style of this bygone era, his evocative and effortless sense of composition captures the promise of a modern Latin America as a cultural force in dialogue with the emergent, international ethos of the day. In one photograph, a woman sitting in a white dress glares down seductively at the camera, surrounded by midcentury furnishings that suggest a level of sophistication. Another shot foregrounds two modern women in matching pants and sleeveless blouses; their self-assured poise is analogous to the skyscrapers that rise behind them, beacons of a bright future to come. Caballero’s work finds newfound freshness within contemporary context, speaking to the indelible relationship between media and imagination.
