JOSE ANTONIO NIGRO (CDN PHOTO/GERARD PAREJA)
A 33-piece collection of nude photo-graphs featuring couples, male torsos and body tattoo art by Italian-Venezuelan photographer Jose Antonio Nigro is on exhibit at the Qube Gallery at the Henry Hotel along Ma. Luisa Road, Cebu City.
In this exhibit titled “Tales from Our Skin,” Nigro explores the human figure, evoking simplicity, strength and emotion in each of the images. “Even the photographs about tattoos, each of these has a message behind. And these are messages about love, heritage and family, “ Nigro said in an interview.
The exhibit has three subject categories and these are the male torsos, tattoo art and erotic fantasies, he said. The photographs may be bold,
intimate and provocative but Nigro was quick to add that the photographs do not include genitals because otherwise this would be porn.
“I am very careful about it,” he stressed. He also said he does not retouch the photos because the imperfections like scars have stories to tell. The subjects in his photo collection are regular people, and not models, who were willing to share their emotions. The exhibit, which runs until March 3, is Nigro’s first solo exhibit here. However, “Tales from
Our Skin” was last shown in Seoul, Korea in November 2012.
He considers himself a documentary photographer rather than a professional photographer “because I consider myself a storyteller.” Nigro, a graphic designer who learned photography skills from his mother, did visual merchandising for Estee Lauder.
A graphic design graduate from Centro Artistico Villasmil de Leon in Caracas, Venezuela, Nigro participated in several photography contests in the US, Venezuela, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore after his stint in the corporate world.
He has participated in group exhibitions across Asia that allowed him to strengthen his passion and enthusiasm for documentary photography.
This pushed him to break boundaries to capture the beauty,significance and spontaneity of an image. Having moved to Cebu eight months ago, Nigro now calls Cebu his home.
Asked about what he thought of Cebu, he immediately exclaimed “fantastic!” And he does not hide his fascination for the colorful and ubiquitous public utility jeepneys (PUJ) that ply Cebu’s streets. He said he wants to do a series of photographs on jeepneys.
