Diego Sagastume Guatemala City, Guatemala
- Chimneys (“Sculptural events” series) 2018
- Column (“Sculptural events” series) 2018
- Testudo (“Sculptural events” series) 2018
- Wall (“Sculptural events” series) 2018
- Wall (“Sculptural events” series) 2018
Born in Guatemala City in 1991. Lives and works in Guatemala City. Self-taught artist and coder, his work examines the city as a stage in which, through the confluence of multiple agents, different tangible and intangible phenomena arise as well as the cycle of mutual transformation between an individual and its surroundings.
www.diegosagastume.com
@dddsagastume
Diego Sagastume was chosen by photographer Czar Kristoff
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Diego Sagastume is the 24th and final artist in link number 2 (red)
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Laatikkomo’s interview with Diego Sagastume, March 18th, 2019.
L: Where are you from? What cities, and/or countries have you lived in – or what places have influenced you?
DS: I’m from Guatemala City and I’ve been living here my whole life. This city holds the most significance and influence both in my upbringing and mindset and I experience it by walking around a few hours almost every day. Walking plays an important role in my process of gathering images, allowing me to go through an always renewed stream of situations and random encounters.
L: What is your earliest memory of photography?
DS: Photography became relevant for me around 2007. My first camera was a Canon S5 IS and I really liked to play with its macro capabilities and powerful zoom. I used to take it to my grandmother’s garden to photograph flowers in macro mode resulting in compositions of color spectra; I could say those were my first abstract images.
L: In terms of technique, you do not limit yourself to working in photography, but you use various techniques and materials to produce a work focused on concept. Could you tell us a little bit about what goes into your creative process; idea, technique, production?
DS: I like the idea of photography as a way of sampling reality or as a mechanism to isolate particular phenomena. I see my photos as sketches for something else outside photography, mostly sculpture. That’s what I like about unframed prints on Dibond or aluminum, it becomes more of an object resembling a fragment of reality than just a representation of it through a regular photo.
L: Geometry plays a strong role in your work. Are you looking for a specific pattern or do these forms jump out at you?
DS: A bit of both. These forms are just happening and I think they are somehow connected and that’s the consequence of something beyond my control. All in all, I’m interested in portraying very particular images with specific traits and patterns; I consider the result of that deliberation a yearn to depict an idealized version of things.
L: Your photographs, including videos, are calm observations that hold a quiet humour. What qualities do you strive towards? And in general, what makes an image appealing to you?
DS: Balance is something I strive towards. Many of my images are taken on a particular moment in which everything that’s happening around seems to pause briefly. Cities can be very chaotic places and my photos propose an alternate, more serene version of them. Also, I try to avoid blue skies as much as I can because I find them distracting; I like to portray things in the most innocuous possible way.
L: In your biography you mention that besides being a photographer, you are also a coder. What qualities from coding do you take into your photography?
DS: I’m always trying to figure out the underlying variables and processes that give shape to a particular element or situation, like doing a reverse engineering.
L: Could you list five or more words related to the work you are showing in Laatikkomo?
DS: Balance
Sculptural
Idealization
Innocuous
Walking
Thank you so much Diego!!!