J.R. Plaza Archive (The Other Sides)

As he did in Todas las verticales, a work where Bonillas focuses on the vertical images found in the albums of the  J.R. Plaza Archive, in this piece the artist makes another surprising decision: he does not show the images but instead the backside of the photographic paper, the side that is normally not seen — or if seen is not paid attention to. For Bonillas this neglected side has as close a connection to photography as the image captured by the camera’s lens.

This work is then, in part, a revaluation of certain marginal features of analogical photography (specifically related to printing: the type and brand of paper, the size, the lab it was printed in, and any other mark that could appear on the back). This information could then provide us with an alternative reading, as suggestive as what we find on the other side or even more so, since what we see in the picture is but a mere insinuation of the image.

Further to this, we also have a reflection on photography as a document, a subject that has been dealt with by other artists who fundamentally use the photograph to register performative events. In this case, however, the document is now turned inward upon itself rather than outward to the world. It is a recording, we could say, of its very own functions and possibilities.