Carlos M. Fernandes (b. 1973)
Quia in Inferno Nulla Est Redemptio - portfolio
| 4/10 Limited edition |
| each print 30x30 cm. (prints) |
| 60x44 cm. (acid-free box) |
After the fall from the 19th century’s Mitelleuropa directly into Inferno, western Europeans covered
themselves with a veil of delusion, which is now revealing to be only a drag, stretched enough just to cover
the shame, and unable to protect them from a changing world. Convinced they found the way to prosperity
and peace, inebriated by Bismarck’s legacy, and overlooking (sometimes even denying) the flames of Hell
that were still burning on the other side of the Curtain, they believed in a new life after WWII, away from the
dreadfulness witnessed by the world during the first half of the century. In a quasi-religious manner, they
still eager for Eden, an earthly reward for all that former suffering. However, history never ends, and those
who ignore this evidence engage in an existence on the edge of oblivion.
Western civilization barely survived the widespread paranoia that almost destroyed it within a century. It’s
not easy to deal with that. Wherever we look, there are signs to assure us that the scars are not forgotten
neither healed. Those could be the perfect altars for the Memory, but the European man insists on living in
the present. He has no past; he refuses to look over his shoulder, maybe fearing that at the same time he
will be facing the future. And there is no comfort in the modern efforts of association, because it reminds us
some (not so) ancient catastrophes sustained by bureaucracy and centralization.
What is causing Europe’s crisis, what is giving rise to this long romantic opera’s libretto (if not Romantism
itself)? Is its past a burden too heavy to hold?, not only its dark history but also its glorious achievements?
What is left for a culture that already nourished Mozart’s Jupiter, Beethoven’s Seventh and Wagner’s Ring?
As Lou Reed puts it (with a pessimism and humility so rarely seen in the pop environment, with all its
celebration of the lower culture and refusal of higher standards): you can’t be Shakespeare and you can’t be
Joyce, so what is left instead? There’s not much left, indeed. To worsen the situation, Europe collapsed to
hysteria and then fell on the last inner circle of Hell. And, once in Hell, there is no redemption. Quia in
Inferno nulla est redemptio. That, above all, is Europe’s tragedy.
These images aim at portraying a distressed Europe, not figuratively but instead in an evocative way. In a
time when color is recurrent in exposing the grief of modern middleclass or the monotony of the suburbs,
only black-and-white can depict the tragedy of a fading Europe. Carlos M. Fernandes
Carlos M. Fernandes (b. 1973)
Carlos Miguel Fernandes was born in Luanda in 1973 and lives in Lisbon since 1974. He studied photography at Ar.Co, in Lisbon (1994-96). He graduated (1998) in Electrotecnics Engineering and owns a master degree in the same field since 2002. He is currently pursuing a Ph.d. on Bio-inspired Computing. From 2001 to 2005 he teached at Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. He is also a photography teacher at NAF since 1996.
He participated in several group and solo exhibitions, namely Kaluptein (solo, Lisbon, 2001), I-S-T 95-75-15 (solo, Lisbon, 2006) and Cinqoenta Fotógrafos (group, Caceres, Espanha, 2005). Recently, he participated in the exhibition INGenuidades – Photography and Engineering 1846-2006, at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and also at Bozar, Brussels. He published the books Kaluptein (2001) and I-S-T 95-75-15 (2006).
Books related to this photographer
-
Pherographia
(...)
-
Europa - uma viagem por um lugar comum
(...)
-
Europa | Livro Ibérico | Seul
(...)
-
I-S-T 95-75-15
(...)
-
Kaluptein
(...)
-
I-S-T 95-75-15 (Limited-edition)
(...)
-
Engenhos e Visões
Catalogue of an exhibition held at Instituto (...)
-
ATLAS BOOK (first edition)
(...)
Search again
 |