The Photographers: Jorge Luis Dieguez
Jorge Luis Dieguez is a Peruvian native artist based in London with degrees in photography, cinematography and architecture, a hybrid that manifests in his practice, where architecture is the discipline that contributes most to interests and explorations.
Growing up in Lima, a dense and unplanned city with very minimal marks of the style of design and construction methods, made him appreciate forms and patterns disconnected between them. He was captivated by Lima's atypical aesthetic and the scale of its complex urbanisation. He was drawn by how they settle in our environment and how we relate with them. That relationship between Human/Object - Human/Space seeded in him. He is always thinking about his work in its final installation and its physical relation with the viewer. His process finishes once his work materialises and is experience in space.
Name: Jorge Luis Dieguez @NM Talent
Location: Lives in London, UK
LBB> What elements of a project sets one apart from the other and what sort of projects get you excited to shoot them?
Jorge> I am interested in producing commercial content that lasts, meaning content that doesn’t tire easily or feels short-lived. It seems that more and more I’m getting the opportunity to produce campaigns that really allow me to hone in on the craft. Rather than just thinking about the final piece, the focus is very much on the process. This is the area I’ve really been enjoying and which excites me.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Jorge> When it's for a commercial spot I look at the technical part, which includes the framing, lighting, textures and grading. Therefore, when I share my ideas, the creative detail within the technical part allows me to put forward a clear picture of what I want to achieve in the final output.
LBB> If the project is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
Jorge> I always do conceptual and technical research for every project I work on. I get totally on board with researching everything I can about it and the client. This then works as the foundation to what I’m producing, and I build everything from there.
Of course I work on strategy and context, but firstly I prefer to understand the brand and the creative idea.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a photographer to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Jorge> I think the following three people and departments are all key relationships, and they need to work with great synergy alongside the photographer, so collectively we can all make something great!
The art director, the gaffer/ lighting department and the editor.
The art director is the foundation of the idea, and sharing the process with that person is vital for the production of the final piece.
The lighting department help with the craft, and the gaffer understands and suggests how to create the look for the piece.
Editing is a very complex area, and good communication with the editor is vital for the production of the final piece.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Jorge> The work I am most passionate about is commercial documentaries within the genres of art, design and architecture. I enjoy exploring and working on manufacturing, environment, infrastructure, and urbanisation. Human behaviour totally intrigues me, and how we organise our environment really fascinates me.
On the other hand, I love nature in all its forms and its relationship with economic development.
Ultimately, what I am passionate about is working in areas where I can explore framing and composition, adding more affinity to the idea and impacting how it then resonates with the viewer.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Jorge> The idea dominates, and I don't think it’s complicated to ‘protect’ it. However, I believe the aesthetics are much more difficult to agree on and digest, and for that reason, I believe it to be the area we have to work hard to ‘protect’ the most.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Jorge> It is essential to have input and give place and opportunity to everyone. I welcome mentoring and apprenticeships. It’s part of what I do.
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
Jorge> I intend to be more experimental when using the platforms to show my work, however, the edit to the final presentation of the piece takes up most of my time so it can be challenging to achieve new ways of doing things. I have played with colours based on the texture of my images or reframed them using multiple 1x1 crops to build a narrative line, but everything is in a rather random state of mind, and feels like a passing thought rather than a permanent outcome. What I do enjoy, and I am always working on, is my website, making it the canvas where I can experiment.
On the other hand, when producing commercial work, there are always requirements based on aspect ratios and timings/ lengths. I have adapted my photographic and film practice to to allow for these, however it’s an assessment every time on how to present each piece of work. I enjoy the process. This doesn't dictate how I produce the work, but it’s prevalent once I have got to the point where I’m happy and I have fulfilled the requirements of the concept, and the whole piece that I am creating.
For me it is important to recognise where and how I feel comfortable during the creative production of a piece of work, as well as thinking about the way in which it is going to be presented.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future- facing tech into your work?
Jorge> I am interested in how technology develops and evolves in our field, but I don’t base my productions on this. I am very interested in how the process helps and directs the production of a final piece, but I feel detached from or don’t have an affinity with the actual technology to include it within my creative process.
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Film – Sumos
It is a film based on an observation around a central subject, which means that the subject is not always present in the film, without affecting the narrative and dynamic of the film.
Mongolia has a vast and complex geography, and Ullambattar is a tedious (largely uniform) city on an enormous scale. The country was overwhelming, in many aspects, and we decided to replan our shoot. It took us one day to re-think how we could develop and adapt the idea of the Sumo kids’ film, so we were able to shoot what we wanted to do. As a result, we decided to think around the main subject, the Sumo kid champion, and take the camera work as the tool to portray it this way. This gave each aspect of the story a specific cinematic language that repeated, depending on which area we were working on. We simply used slow-motion for sports sequences and fixed frames for natural landscapes. We were very organised and used repetitive moves with the camera work, depending on what we were shooting. The result was a beautiful film which we are very proud to have created.
Photographic Project - Desierto Sur
The human race has figured out how to bend most environments to make them work for them, but not the desert. The desert does not care about them, the desert is self-contained and self-sustained. If you are out in the desert for an extended period, there is this purity of soul that you will experience, it feels like you’re being stripped down to the barest and most pure version of yourself.
The desert is a space or landscape that absolutely fascinates me, and since I can remember, I have felt connected with it. Once you are in there, there is little information, it is even but it has a very complex geography and photographically is immensely diverse. Framing and composition in the desert had many challenges for me, which I managed to work through whilst producing this project.
On the one hand, there is the time issue - you need to spend time on it to understand and truly immerse in the landscape. I usually spent days camping there, as the environment is very drastic. It’s extremely dark at night, boiling during the day, dusty and heavy with no sense of direction and repetitive formations that feel endless. Still, spending time there was the only way I could really learn to understand the volatile landscape that it is. In contrast, it can also change very quickly, and its colours, forms and textures can transform from a deep colourful density to dry monotone and reflective. It is those characteristics that helped me create a unique and very visual piece of content. My process is purely observational, thinking in depth about each and every frame challenges my mind and eye. My intention was to produce something very personal from a landscape that we are all fairly familiar with, to some extent.
