We Are Going To Need Some More Coffee, City Vignettes from Tokyo and Buenos Aires by Maria Guerberof

About

Maria Guerberof is Originally from Argentina, Buenos Aires. She and her family had no choice but to leave Buenos Aires escaping its political chaos. Now based in the UK. Maria has a background in philosophy and creative photography. Maria's work as photographer and cinematographer has been selected for numerous festivals including, Nomination KG + Award Kyotographie 2018, Kyoto,  Japan, and a solo exhibition at Voice Gallery/Matsuo Megumi.  "Buenos Aires 2001: a culture under siege”. Nomination, Official competition Cinematography festival Zsigmond Vilmos 2017. Hun. She produced a short film, ”Cry For All" which was selected for ArtWiki, 7th Berlin Biennale.

"Buenos Aires 2001: a culture under siege”,
This project is based on memories of my place of birth, Argentina. Fifteen years ago, during the brutal economic crash of 2001-02, we saw the total breakdown of our society.  There was no choice but to leave and move from one country to the next. I never returned. Now based in the UK, I’ve gone back over my archive of old negatives from those crisis years in Argentina, images bearing witness to the climate of desperation and commitment that shaped my vision as a photographer.

Photographic practice is a way for me to construct a new reality from a vantage point of political awareness and resistance: my aim is to find a visual narrative by which to think critically about violence and its consequences for a culture. 
This series of photos taken on my daily wanderings around the city of Buenos Aires represents an emotional response to the chaotic moment I left the country and to the sinister invisibility of power.
This project obtained a nomination for the KG± Award at Kyotographie festival 2018 (Japan) 
 
“Ode to Tokyo” 
Tokyo is for me a city of extreme opposites. I have observed how the ancestral traditions and nature live with the ultramodern technologies. This project intends to portrait formally the dialogue between those forces: the old and the new, the megalopolis and feeling of isolation, organic forms from nature versus the sharp concrete structures constructed by men. 
I find Japan very inspiring to explore the possibilities of black and white photography. I’m now interested in composition, the haptic qualities of images and how to create a poetic atmosphere within the city landscape. Part of this project was exhibited at The British Library in London for the Modern cultures event: “Japan Now 2017” 
- Maria Guerberof