Camille Solyagua | American, 1959 -
Camille Solyagua was born in Denver, Colorado in 1959. She attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco from 1989-1990. Prior to art school, Solyagua obtained a B.A. in Spanish Literature from UCSD in 1984 and a M.A. in Spanish Literature from Middlebury College in 1985. Solyagua has been exhibiting her photographs since 1989, and is currently in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. Solyagua presently lives in San Francisco, California.
Romantic and in utter contradistinction to the world of post-modern spectacles, Solyagua has examined the small wonders in her personal nature cabinet and has fashioned lyrical contemplations of their overlooked and extraordinary beauties - a "bathos of vision," as it were, in which the grandeur of lofty events and things is replaced by a depth of meaning seen in nature's most humble creations.
- from the introduction of "Camille Solyagua Benevolent Pleasures of Sight"
The quiet and lyrical images in Camille Solyagua's series "Benevolent Pleasures of Sight" radiate a gentle sense of beauty and grace. These qualities are enhanced by Solyagua printing the images in ethereal tonalities. Each black and white photograph feels like a precious object, to be handled and viewed with care. Among the most beautiful of Solyagua's photographs is an image of a tiny, clear jellyfish. The jellyfish is suspended in a black space that glitters with white pinpoints of light. Held perfectly motionless, Solyagua lets the viewer contemplate the beauty and delicacy of the small creature.
Solyagua also composes visions of balance and grace in her study of birds in flight and birds on telephone wires. The photographs in this series are tiny, thus enhancing their preciousness. In an image of three seagulls in flight, Solyagua captures the movement at a point of graceful balance.
Other images of tranquil beauty include still lifes of flora and fauna. From a close-up of a fragile butterfly, to images of preserved lizards and snakes, Solyagua's work communicates her gentle associations with the world.
Camille Solyagua was born in Denver, Colorado in 1959. She attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco from 1989-1990. Prior to art school, Solyagua obtained a B.A. in Spanish Literature from UCSD in 1984 and a M.A. in Spanish Literature from Middlebury College in 1985. Solyagua has been exhibiting her photographs since 1989, and is currently in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. Solyagua presently lives in San Francisco, California.
Romantic and in utter contradistinction to the world of post-modern spectacles, Solyagua has examined the small wonders in her personal nature cabinet and has fashioned lyrical contemplations of their overlooked and extraordinary beauties - a "bathos of vision," as it were, in which the grandeur of lofty events and things is replaced by a depth of meaning seen in nature's most humble creations.
- from the introduction of "Camille Solyagua Benevolent Pleasures of Sight"
The quiet and lyrical images in Camille Solyagua's series "Benevolent Pleasures of Sight" radiate a gentle sense of beauty and grace. These qualities are enhanced by Solyagua printing the images in ethereal tonalities. Each black and white photograph feels like a precious object, to be handled and viewed with care. Among the most beautiful of Solyagua's photographs is an image of a tiny, clear jellyfish. The jellyfish is suspended in a black space that glitters with white pinpoints of light. Held perfectly motionless, Solyagua lets the viewer contemplate the beauty and delicacy of the small creature.
Solyagua also composes visions of balance and grace in her study of birds in flight and birds on telephone wires. The photographs in this series are tiny, thus enhancing their preciousness. In an image of three seagulls in flight, Solyagua captures the movement at a point of graceful balance.
Other images of tranquil beauty include still lifes of flora and fauna. From a close-up of a fragile butterfly, to images of preserved lizards and snakes, Solyagua's work communicates her gentle associations with the world.