Clemente Vergara
The reason behind things
There are times when you take a decision, and then immediately feel you have made a mistake. This is precisely what happened to photographer Clemente Vergara (Valencia, 1985) as a teen, and it was only many years later that he was able to understand that life has its own path, and that even though we may not be capable of seeing it at first, things always happen for a reason.
Fear. Fear is the word. When Clemente Vergara decided to study environmental engineering instead of his passion as a teenager, architecture, it was out of fear. “I asked my father for advice and he told me that construction tends to have cycles – 20 good years and 20 bad years. Right now we are going through an intense boom”, he told me back then. “By the time you finish your degree, it will all have declined significantly”. This paternal advice was what gave rise to Clemente’s fear, and led to his life taking a different course. “But in any case, I do have to admit that my father wasn’t wrong. Because when I finished my engineering degree in 2009, I saw numerous architects leave Spain due to the crisis”.
Even so, the feeling that not studying architecture had been a mistake stayed in Cemente’s head for many years. And then photography appeared, like a kind of balm, a remedy with which he could start to discern the meaning of things. “With photography, I started to enjoy the more beautiful facet of architecture, the more romantic, visual side. Taking photographs has helped me to look at things with perspective, and comprehend the reason behind things and the sense of where life is taking us”.
A different instinct in each person
When he was small Clemente’s parents would take him and his sisters Julia and Lucía to visit museums. “The exhibitions I liked the most were the Bauhaus ones”, he recalls. He also remembers the games his father invented. “Visiting a museum can be tough for young children. And so my dad invented a game so that I wouldn’t get bored while I walked along holding his hand. It consisted of me choosing my three favourite paintings, and if one of them coincided with his favourite, he would buy me an ice cream when we went outside. It was blackmail, but it definitely helped me develop a way of looking at an artwork”.
In his photographs, Clemente combines different elements, places and colours. “Above all I try to achieve a harmonious composition. This is easier when there aren’t many elements. My photography isn’t [...]
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