Antonio Peinado

I have been interested in photography since I was a child and I’m self-taught by reading photography books and experimenting, things that I still do today. First photography was a hobby and later, almost 20 years ago, it became my profession. Now I also attend various workshops, conferences and training events that interest me to continue training continuously.

I remember my first contact with photography when I was a child, although seen it with the fog of childhood and time that has passed. My first photographs were about my family and about the games with my brothers and my childhood friends.

I really choose the photographic equipment depending on the project I am doing, whether it is analog or digital, or a mixture of both. There are also cameras that put me in different moods and that makes me perceive my subject in a special way: sometimes that is what determines my choice of one or another camera. My favorite rigs are my Hasselblad 503cw and my 8x10” backed Sinar P2. With them I get some wonderful black and white negatives.

I try (and hope) to create images that continue to move me and, if possible, that move the viewer.

The compliment that moved me the most was that of a photographer who attended a conference I gave for the UNED (Distance Education University) and in which I also showed some of my photographic work. This woman told me that my work had excited and moved her and even changed her perception of photography and her way of interpreting it.

My two main sources of inspiration are, on the one hand, the love I feel for my family and that my family feels for me too and, on the other hand, the world around me, what I like and what I dislike. I actually think that what inspires me is the experience of living.

Emotional, Elegant, Sincere

Thanks! Having won this recognition is a great support to my career since it increases the diffusion and visibility of my work and presents me as a photographer of recognized prestige.

Both projects, Synaesthesia and WoMoon, talk about Women, praise and value their contribution to our society. My wife is an example for me because of her values and her strength and her way of being is a great source of inspiration for me. Synaesthesia talks about how we can confuse the perception of the presence of women and the different roles they play in our societies. The following text accompanies the series. “Synaesthesia… what a curious word to indicate how the senses overlap in certain people. That itchy tongue when I see a gear or the smell of tea when I see some kind of hat, the gentle smell of lavender when I hear her voice, that tingling that I feel when I see the face of a bride while my mouth is filled with the taste of honey and, why not to say it, the golden purple color of a woman's silhouette ... Series of portraits made in wet metal plate collodion. The Goddess of the Biomechanics (Synaesthesia I) She Fortune Teller (Synaesthesia II) Bride Widow (Synaesthesia III) She the Pocketpicker (Synaesthesia IV) The Tribal Sorceress (Synaesthesia V)” WoMoon conceived it as a tribute to Women when the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Man on the Moon was approaching. “Since the appearance of the human being, the Woman has been closely linked to the Moon. For more than 300,000 years (315,000) humanity has lived according to the dictates of the Moon, a symbol of rebirth, life and evolution. Woman Speaks-Sings-Lives the language of the moon. Man has visited the moon. 50 years ago that feat occurred for humanity. Women and the Moon have been united for hundreds of thousands of years. This is the true feat of humanity.”

Every time I have received recognition, it has served to encourage me to continue working hard on my projects. The recognitions have served as an incentive for me.

It is very difficult to focus only on three photographers, but if I have to choose, at the moment they are: Helmut Newton Richard Avedon Gregory Colbert

They advised me to bet on continuous training and work, and that in difficult times I should believe in myself and not get discouraged.

My advice is that, having a basic technical knowledge, observe all the artistic manifestations that you can, observe the world around you and then look within yourself for everything you have to say.

From my point of view, the key is to work hard, love my work and be authentic with myself.

I always remain receptive in those aspects. As we have different experiences we change, and that change along with our memory is what defines us.