Rodrigo Moya was a famous photographer in Mexico who began his work in 1955.He was a renowned photographer but abandoned photography as a profession in 1967.He started photographing the sea, Mexico and the people living in it. His exhibitions are located at The Wittliff Collection at Texas State University, where I visited. From all his amazing work I found "Guerilla in the Mist" 1966, Sierra de Falcon Venezuela the most fascinating.
This was a piece of five guerillas, who were part of FALN organization that were fighting against Venezuela's government. I was drawn in by this exhibition more than others as it showed a lot about what they were going through. The piece is in the color black and white. This bring a deep contrast between the men and the background with the trees. The background almost looks foggy. There is a clear definition of lines brought by the trees with branches. Different shapes are seen by the presence of leaves and trees.
As I got closer, I noticed the good use of space, this gives out the assumption that the men actually posed for the picture. On the far right, there is a huge tree that overshadows the height of the men and makes them look shorter. It was very hard to tell the source of light. There is a light that comes from the front which gives emphasis on men's faces. It brings out their masculinity. In addition there is another drastic brighter light that comes from the sides. It gives the assumption of sunrise. .
The flat surface with the leaves gives the piece a bumpy texture. It overshadows the men's feet. The trees and leaves on the ground gives the exhibition a nice balance. None of the men are smiling, it sets a mood of sorrow, anger and dullness to the piece. They are all holding guns, this says a lot about how they were courageous and ready for anything.
Rodrigo Moya took this picture after spending a week with the guerillas to document their encounters since he was known to be a famous photographer.
