Catarina Osorio de Castro — Eclipse
It has been a while since our last review of a photobook. I really wanted to get back to writing about recent releases of photobooks by emerging artists. From time to time I like to be informed through social media about new publications that are released, and the one I’m presenting today, caught my eye when it reached my inbox.
Recently published by Lisbon-based independent publishing house XYZ Books, Eclipse is the second book by Portuguese photographer Catarina Osorio de Castro.
Catarina developed these series between 2017 and 2019 in different locations in Portugal and the South of France. Her work is characterised by a personal and intimate vision of nature, taking above all on the sea as the central axis of her projects. Over the years, she has polished the way she captures every detail of the textures and in turn has been able to trace the characteristic light of these particular coastal areas.
When one sees her images, one automatically feels a sense of nostalgia, but also notices that most of the images present atypical compositions. The figure of a woman displaced from the traditional way of framing in photography, or the almost abstract image of a reflection in a car window are some of the examples in which we see a very interesting aspect in Catarina’s work: she takes advantage of the unknown.
Eclipse is an intimate photobook. I will personally describe it also as gradual. And this is because one after the other, the images introduce you to a context, evoking a specific temperature, light, mood. Gradually, one realises that her images do not show too much. They always leave something to the imagination. Some framings are really dramatic and if not, Catarina makes sure that there is always something to remain unseen. This little game that she plays with the spectator is the essence of the whole project. As Bruno Marchand perfectly comments: “The less you see, the more you imagine, and this is a secret that Catarina knows only too well.”
Eclipse was launched early October 2023 by Lisbon-based independent publisher XYZ Books. Founded in 2013 by Tiago Casanova and Pedro Guimarães — both photographers — they decided to start this project and produce high quality books about contemporary photographers. Among the artists they have published are Nuno Andrade, Federico Clavarino or Laura Sperl.
Catarina Osorio de Castro (b. 1982, Portugal) lives and works in Lisbon. Her work is a combination of autobiographical and fictional ideas which she uses to comprehend her surroundings. In her practice she usually returns to familiar and safe places where she can capture images of the sea and the intimacy of her friends and family members. Catarina graduated in Architecture at FA.ULisboa and studied photography at Ar.Co and at Atelier de Lisboa.
If you would like to purchase Eclipse, you can find more information on the XYZ Books website.
Photographer: Catarina Osorio de Castro
Editing and Sequencing: Catarina Osorio de Castro, Pedro Guimarães and Tiago Casanova
Graphic Design: Joana Durães
Hope you enjoy the article and if you want to discover more about emerging photography, you can find us on Instagram and on our website
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Text by:
Juan Blasco — Founder & Curator of Conceptual Projects
