Albert Gràcia
agg.foto@gmail.com
About me
My name is Albert Gracia and I live in Barcelona.
I like be aware of things that surround me, and feel that everything that I do, I also feel it.
Perhaps that is the reason why it is no coincidence that my profession is the massage. This work demands the best of me and at the same time to be capable of offering it to others.
I like things where creativity is a requirement and, above all, that make me feel that I live with consistency with what I am.
My love for photography comes from long ago. I was lucky to have a father who I don’t remember in any family outing without a camera in his hand. Those were other times. Waiting for the processing of slides (coming from Madrid) enlarged me 15 or 20 days my holidays feeling. This date was marked by the meeting in the dining room of the House, where we saw the images that my father had collected throughout that summer. I also remember the criticisms that someone did to the photographer: "I think that children don’t appear enough". To me, that opened a door of reflection: "why does my father take a picture of a drop of water hanging delicately from a flower, when he has got us on the same stage?" I already pictured the answer: photography not only freezes moments to remember, it also freezes the beauty that surrounds us in all its forms, which are sometimes hard to recognize.
Photography is much more than that, of course; but for me, it was a beginning.
The experience of portraying
The challenge does not consist in getting a good image to collect (this becomes inevitable), but in turning each image in the consequence of an experience. Each image contains a unique experience.
It all starts with an intuition that you can feel when you see a child eating an apple or watching an old tire at the bottom of a trash-filled alley. Beauty is shown, to all those who want to see it everywhere and in the most diverse forms.
The scene attracts you. You don't know why very well, but you feel like a "call" that guides you. It is there, you know it. An almost mystical moment. Now you need to find it.
The real challenge is here. You must see it all and take decisions. Angle, light, frame, add, remove... is the creative, fun, and exciting moment. It is not sufficient to have more or less aesthetic criteria: it is required to capture the emotion that whole scene has, and being able to convey it to the one who looks at the photograph. Anyway, this is the objective.
Many times everything ends in frustration. The photo was there, you know it, but you have not captured it. Perhaps you have not been fast enough; or not too inspired, or who knows... but, sometimes it appears in your viewfinder an image that makes you smile proudly... I got it!
Why the web?
I never thought of showing my pictures, but in today's world not doing so is almost like hiding them. Amateur photographers show us every day their work and thus they make enjoy other people. It is a present. And I want to give mine to those who wants. This is how I see the world.
And what do I expect with this? As I have said, every creation expects to awake and convey some emotion. I think it is the noble goal of anything that is made from the heart. Nothing more. Well, maybe yes... that you’ll let me know it.