Lot 1126: EMMANUEL SANTOS (b. The Philippines 1957)

EMMANUEL SANTOS (b. The Philippines 1957)
Passing of light II: Book of Illumination
c-type lambda print
26 x 26 in. (66 x 66 cm.) each
19 works are first in an edition of seven; 6 works are second in an edition of seven; 1 work is third in an edition of seven; 1 work is first in an edition of six; 1 work is second in an edition of six; 1 work is the artist's proof.
29 (29)

Passing of light II: Book of Illumination is Filipino photographer Emmanuel Santos' on-going project visualizing angels found in the holy scriptures of Christianity, Judaism and Islam - the Bible, Torah and Koran. As a set of 29 prints composing angels in their human form cast in evocative scenes, Book of Illumination draws from Renaissance and Medieval depictions of angels and revises it in the format of tableau vivant. Hence suffused with momentous theatrical quality, the 29 prints perfectly illustrate Santos' artistic vision that sees photography as finite and exemplary of time and place, as a song even, or in the photographer's own words, 'a monochromatic ballad of expressions between birth and death".

Christie's sold the first set of 38 prints from Passing of Light I in May 2008, setting a record for contemporary Southeast Asian photography. Book of Illumination follows through, recording 29 more angels. Santos devised dreamlike and symbolist- backdrops, drawing from conventions of composition by Renaissance and classical painters, extremely nuanced in terms of the distribution of space and form. The result is a set of surrealistic renditions of angels, evoking their histories, personalities and associated symbols and peoples.

Santos' himself draws an analogy between his photographic practice encompassing the Book of Illumination and music - "There is a light that sings in a thousand worlds. This light is so intense that often we are in awe of it. A song may be so complex that it is incomprehensible. However, if it is broken into many simpler notes, each one can be understood by itself. The entire song in this way resonates with crystal clarity." Each print is a personification of a being, a freeze frame capturing a precise moment where a value or an attribute of the depicted angel is articulated.

As contemporary tableau vivants, Santos set his angels within dramatically composed backdrops of both recognizable and commonplace locations selected as the photographer traveled round the world. Santos would find models from his locale of choice and would directly photograph his posed subject on location. But where it was not physically possible to do so, he would have his model photographed in the studio and later blend in a desired background, paying attention to the dramatic cast of light and darkness.

As Santos relate, his creative process in Passing of Light is one that evolved with time, reining in various photographic techniques over time - "I started with in-camera double exposures to negative sandwiching to photographing original masters' paintings at the Lourve and juxtaposing my own angel to complete the picture. Then one day I realized all I need is to find my own location shoot using less light, or what I would call Biblical lighting and the mood and the feel was there."

Using a compact and light Rolleiflex TLR camerqa with excellent optics, Santos traversed places all over the world, scourging for the choicest locations and individuals to cast and shoot. And again, the analogy with music proves useful to understanding his works - "Like music it took a while until I found my beat and rhythm of expression."