Miguel Fonta (Madrid, 1979) considers himself as a photographer "of people and spaces". He started applying the same approach of the "frontal portrait" used by Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Martin Schoeller, or Thomas Ruff not only to people but also to architecture, convinced that "a building is much more than an inert block and is loaded with history and stories". The result is the 'Roots' exhibition (at the Arbeit Studios in London), where Fonta showcases a selection of his other "portraits", the result of his long walks through his native Madrid, his adopted London, New York, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Lisbon, with stops in Mexico and Croatia. "Walking through many of these cities with architecture student friends helped me see and appreciate them in a different way," confesses the Spanish photographer. "I would like people to look up and dare to look at their city with fresh and renewed eyes, as I do every time I return to London, where I have been for 17 years and I am constantly amazed." The Royal Academy of Arts in London selected one of his architectural "portraits" for the Summer Exhibition 2021. It was the red facade of Saint Giles, the first building designed in London by Renzo Piano... "I was struck by how one of the most battered areas of London could become a vibrant area, enhanced by those vivid colors." The regenerative power of architecture is also reflected in his images of the Barbican Centre, the brutalist mini-city in the heart of the City of London... "The history behind it fascinated me: the idea of filling that space destroyed by the bombings of London during the Second World War, and the project that was finally inaugurated in 1982, bringing life and culture to an area where there were only banks and offices." Fonta bridges the Barbican with the Torres Blancas by Sáenz de Oiza, photographed "at dusk with that wonderful light of Madrid that you don't find in any other city in the world." Due to proximity, and the irresistible call of color, the "portrait" of the Puerta América was inevitable, the collective project signed by 18 architects with Jean Nouvel putting the finishing touch on the penthouse. The Tío Pepe sign in Puerta del Sol ("originally located on the Paris hotel, the first with rooms with private bathrooms that opened in Madrid"), the symmetrical facade above the Apotheke sign in Vienna or the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo studio house in Mexico City are other favorite images of Fonta, with a preference for detail that invites a closer look. The door knockers of Venice, the rocking chairs of Viñales in Cuba or the back rooms of the galleries in the Meatpacking District of New York are other previous projects by Fonta, who worked for media outlets such as El Mundo and El País and explored the human face of London's double-decker bus drivers and mechanics before making the leap as a "space and city portraitist", always seeking "a different angle".
* "Roots", with photographs by Miguel Fonta, is open until October 6, during weekends, at Arbeit Studios, 310c Green Lanes, London N135TT