THE MAGIC OF MOVEMENT

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOU, THE PERSON BEHIND THE WORK WE SEE, WHERE ARE YOU BASED AND HOW OLD ARE YOU?

I’m 29, based in Mexico City, with an innate sense of wanderlust. I started saving up to see the world when I was 17: I’ve since been to every continent except Antarctica. I’m fascinated by other cultures and experiencing them is my favorite way to learn and expand my mind. People with unique stories and backgrounds have always been more fascinating to me; I would always become friends with the exchange students when I was a boy in school. I wanted them to feel welcome, and was eager to hear all about their lives overseas. This desire to explore foreign cultures, has had me backpacking since I was 14 – on the lookout for beautiful and remote landscapes, that would inspire me to start taking photos. Both my appreciation nature and humanity, are at the core of my art.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHEN AND WHY YOU STARTED YOUR PAGE?

I started using Instagram around 2014 when I took a trip to Iceland. I wanted a place to share my individual stories and all the beauty I was experiencing there. I had never been somewhere so extreme and magical. Previously I had used sites like Flickr and Facebook to casually share my art, but as Instagram rose to the top I decided I should spend more time there; I also became self-employed starting in 2014, so it made sense to have my work on more platforms.

What does your art focus on?

I like imagining how we could live in harmony and showcasing the beauty already surrounding us on this planet. I find beauty everywhere: in geometric architecture, in vast landscapes, in a weirdly shaped corner of a room. I think the power of artists is the ability to re-envision every day scenarios in a way no one else would have imagined. When we face troubles as a society we must re-imagine how we communicate, treat people, how we operate as a whole.

Besides your computer/phone, what is the one thing you cannot work without?

I cannot work without a developed concept. I used to shoot spontaneously but now I prefer to create around concepts and ideas to ensure a stronger outcome. If there is no inspiration up front I simply don’t shoot. Of course, I leave room for spontaneity within a planned shoot, but it has to stem from something meaningful.

Has Instagram influenced your work?

I think in some ways I hold myself to a higher standard because of Instagram/social media. I suppose knowing many more eyes will be on a finished product pushes me to really fine tune and develop my concepts to their fullest potential. At the same time, I find a lot of my inspiration elsewhere- through nature, classic painters, personal experiences and music.

Your work gets a lot of attention on social media, how does getting online recognition changes the way you perceive and produce your art?

I suppose the recognition and mostly positive feedback also encourages me to keep creating- it has added an additional purpose besides my own cathartic release and satisfaction with myself/ideas. Knowing people appreciate what I’m putting out there gives the art more depth and meaning.

Name three Instagram accounts you follow religiously.

@irisvanherpen @dean.schneider and @filipcustic1

interviewed by philippe ghabayen

ROB WOODCOX - The Magic of Movement

THE MAGIC OF MOVEMENT