If the River Sounds…: Strategies and Representation for the Water of a River

A reflection on photographic practice, on the representation of nature, focusing on one particular element: water. Can we think of the water running in a river as an object separate from the stones, minerals, grasses, ferns, trees, fish and communities that coexist in it? And if we do, what implications do these actions have for the perception and experience of the river? By posing these questions, the text invites us to call into question the relationships and categories we take as given between humans and nature, examining the problems of the photographic image in transcribing these relationships, while proposing different strategies of representation that promote an other relationship with our environment.

Text published as part of the initiative carried out jointly by CNAC (Centro Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo) and the Photography Area of Chile’s Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, within the context of Photography Month in November 2021.