Illusion
"Formentera" (1969) Toni Catany
The
images of TONI CATANY are, above all, different and singular. It’s very
difficult to synthesize such a diverse body of work in a few words but if I had
to use one word to define it this would without doubt be experimentation. Catany
has researched in depth all the techniques and photographic materials to create
images that have a very different personality to what we are used to seeing. His
work with the large format Polaroid technique combined with the printing in
watercolour papers with which he achieves singular colours and textures are well
known. We could say that this belonged in a way to pictorialism but with an
updated technique and aesthetic that produced a totally new style.
When
I see some of his still lifes composed of fruits, flowers and other materials I
sometimes have the impression that I’m standing in front of a painting by
Antonio Lopez. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Catany painted
in his youth. The nude has been another of his favourite subjects. The
recreation of the classical world through sculpture, perhaps the paradigm of
classical art, is another of his most notable work.
Despite
this I’ve chosen a photograph quite different from what I’ve just commented
on. It’s from his early period and was shot on a Mediterranean island that so
inspired his work.
Its
theme and the technique used are a long way from its later work. But it really
has the sensitivity of a grand master and moves me enormously.
Formentera
was, around the end of the sixties, a kind of earthly paradise far from the more
touristic destinations on the rest of the Mediterranean coast and particularly
the Balearics. Peasants could still mix with the few well-informed summer
tourists and groups of hippies that were living all year on the island. I
don’t know how they got on but the photograph makes me think that there was
still room for surprise and emotion.
The
portrait of this eighty something local proves it. And with a straw hat to
protect him from the summer sun our man sits in a terrace beside the beach.
It’s
bathing time for the tourists and perhaps apperitive for him. He’s a well-groomed
old man, shaven and with a trimmed moustache.
He
spends his time gawping at the people coming and going from the beach until
dinnertime. Suddenly a very pretty girl in a bikini passes by very close to him.
Close enough to touch.
This
makes him raise his head and look at her without pretence, openly. His eyes
shine with extraordinary intensity. Our gaze is focused on these small and
lively eyes through which we are also watching the body of this beautiful girl.
The half open mouth is also an obvious sign of admiration. All together his
expression reflects a feeling of connection with the girl, perhaps an evocation
of some other women from his past. The photographic technique is very good and
helps to portray the situation perfectly. It’s possible that what we see has
been taken with a telephoto lens which enables this selective blurring effect to
happen.
Let’s
see. The piece of the girl’s back is out of focus but with the bikini band
perfectly defines the object although gives only an imprecise view. On the other
hand the background is clearly blurred and does not distract us from our man’s
face. The foreground that takes up almost half of the image gains all its power
and makes it possible to appreciate the rich subtlety of his expression and we
ask ourselves, would we find today a peasant or a fisherman sitting in the
midday sun watching a tourist girl with such illusion?
I
think that this, like the peace and tranquility of Formentera, is a think of the
past, belonging to a lost paradise.