Xan Padrón: How much of life happens in a single spot?
*Xan (53) ★ photographer -> lives between New York City and Galicia, Spain, where he comes from -> author of the Time-Lapse photo series, a project where he places his camera in an unnoticed space place, and during the space of two to three hours, he photographs a sequence of moments as times passes by -> he is inspired by all the small and invisible things that happen around us, especially the ones we take for granted ★ he likes traveling the world with his partner Cristina and their dog Bimba
Xan, what inspired you to start your Time-Lapse photo series? What is this project about?
In 2011, I was working on another project, Motion City, capturing images of people in motion around New York City from public buses. At some point, I got off the bus and I sat down for a moment of silence, and something interesting happened right in front of me. A few minutes later, something else happened and then again. I began thinking about the idea of how much life happens in a single spot and started taking pictures of everything that happened in that specific spot. Then, in the studio, I worked on different formats to put all the images together until I came up with the final composition. This was the first work of the series Time Lapse, 8th Avenue, NYC (2011). It was just a natural process.
Time Lapse. SoHo, Greene St November 2020
How do you choose the places where to shoot?
The first thing I do when I arrive to a city is search for an interesting background. I normally walk miles around the different neighborhoods trying to get a grasp of the atmosphere, and at the same time, picking possible backgrounds. I walk and walk until I find a backdrop that speaks to me. The reasons for choosing them are different. Sometimes I choose the background for aesthetic reasons, sometimes I pick it because I like the vibe of the neighborhood, or just because I imagine it could represent the location in which I am at that moment: that corner, that neighborhood.
With your pictures you try to portray the soul of cities through people – could you tell us a bit about the souls of some of your favorite cities?
One of my favorite cities is New York City, where I’ve been living for the past 18 years. The human landscape here is just incredible and each neighborhood is like a world unto itself. The way people dress, the sense of purpose, the things we carry with us when we walk. Our cultural identity is defined by who we are, but also by how we fit in the places we live, and New York is really special in that sense. But I must confess that in every city I’ve worked in, I have found beauty in the way people find their way into their city.
Have you ever counted how many walls and passersby have you already captured?
Not really. Apart from the ones that are already out there, I have also photographed countless walls, and probably thousands of people, but the images are “waiting” in hard drives. Normally, I try to start working on the final composition soon after the photoshoot, so I still have fresh memories of it. But other times, I let the works breathe for a period of time — sometimes even years — and then I revisit them later. It’s a unique process because every time you go back to the memory of the moment somehow you re-imagine it again.
I have other projects, less visible, that I continue shooting, that keeps me going on in a different way like documenting rural Galicia, the place I come from.
Time Lapse. Igreja do Carmo, Porto
What are you passionate about in life and how does that translate to your artwork?
As you mentioned before, I am interested in those small quotidian gestures, the small things that happen around us and we take for granted. I try to observe these things with passion, there is so much beauty in them! For me it is a question of approach. Walking in a neighborhood it’s never just about going from A to B. Street life is rich and vivid, filled with stories, scenes, people with complex lives (just like our own). The same street has a completely different life in the morning, at night, in the weekend…
I think these series are pretty much the synthesis of all of my passions. I also like to create things with my hands, and I can spend hours doing ephemeral sculptures with organic materials, and then I enjoy watching them dissolve with time.
Time Lapse. Lemonheads COVID-19 Special Edition
“In March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, I found myself constantly looking for ways to cope with this kind of uncertainty we were facing. Since I couldn't leave my home to do what I love the most (taking pictures of people), I began creating imaginary people with the elements I had around me, like the little lemons from our lemon tree...
During my confinement in Galicia I couldn't stop doing, making and creating, and although I knew that everything I was creating was ephemeral, the process of making it brought me so much joy and hope that I began experimenting with more lemons and more branches, and you can see some of those results in these two pieces: the “Time Lapse Series: Lemonheads COVID 19 Special Edition” with lemons and branches from our lemon tree “passing by” and old door.”
Is there something you learned about people you photographed without even interacting with them?
You learn a lot by being aware, by acknowledging the diversity around us. I think my series is also about that.
What fascinates you about photography?
One of the things I like the most about photography is that action becomes observation. This observation is never objective because, consciously or unconsciously, in every picture there is an intention, the point of view of the photographer. I am fascinated about that journey, starting in the subject of the image to the moment the picture is taken and until the interpretation(s) of the viewer(s) when the work is displayed.
Time Lapse. Calle Serrano, Madrid
What does success mean to you?
I think success is a unique word, with a different definition within each one of us. Perhaps success is connected to luck, and to the idea that not everybody has access to this unique moment of luck that can make your art visible to the people who would appreciate it and give you an opportunity, and share it. I guess success is connected to visibility, but for me success is also being able to create something that I feel proud of saying “this is beautiful,” “this has something to say”.
Is there a chance we will — as passersby — appear in your photo series from Prague?
I am planning to go there sometime this summer and try to do one of my time lapses in your beautiful city. And I can’t wait to revisit Prague through the lens of its people and my camera!
All photos © Xan Padrón