CONSTRUCTIONS

In his series of photographs Constructions, Veiga pursues yet again a theme dear to him and present in other series of his work: the notion of time, and the way we relate to time. Here, the outcome in terms of pictorial aspect is brought about in a deliberate way, through both a calculated manipulation of the camera’s white balance and a choice of minimum illumination for photographic night work. The pictures taken show scenes not visible to the naked eye, images to be captured only by means of digital technology. The documental characteristic of photography is thus reduced and the limits between representation and presentation become blurred. The images thus produced may give the spectator a sense of timelessness – a paradoxical result, considering the objects photographed are pieces of safety equipment: rough wooden-board trays placed externally to the building under construction to prevent spillage of debris. These trays are always temporary and yet they are a permanent part of the urban, ever changing landscape. The artist “removes” them from the hectic pace of large cities in order to show them frozen at a time that seems to us strange and undetermined, in spaces that seem devoid of any reference cues to spatial scale.