Pictures at an Exhibition

The lively beat of  Latin reggae enticed me into the colonial courtyard.  Free mezcal and a tub full of beer, ensured that I stay.  I joined a festive crowd attending the opening night of a photography exhibition.  In Oaxaca, you often stumble into gems like this, by just walking the streets.  I sipped the mezcal, chased it with some beer, and after sufficiently enjoying  the young band, walked into the exhibition.

The first room surprised me.  The walls were covered with portraits of women.  As I walked around the room, I was compelled to pause for long minutes in front of each one of them. Young, old, pretty, not so pretty, all displayed an intense personality that shone through the black-and-white photos.  Their piercing eyes engaged mine and reflected my own curiosity, 'Who are you?  What do you do?'  The labels provided only their names.  I spent extra time in front of the attractive woman whose name sounded Israeli.  The other rooms contained more portraits, of both genders.  All the photos were in black-and-white, and all exhibited an eye-catching quality, clarity and tone.  Each person, for I felt I was looking at a person not a photo, had something special that attracted attention.  A pensive look, a smile, a puff on a cigarette, even a playful up-yours gesture.  Crossing from one room to another, felt like abandoning old friends.  These photos were not snapshots, clearly they were the result of dedicated photo session, but it was also clear that the subjects felt relaxed and free to express themselves.  I was amazed at the magical ability of the artist to vividly project real personalities.
"I would love to have a conversation with each one of these people." I told Adi.

The last room I entered, was actually the first of the exhibition.  Here I found that the photographer's name is Alberto (El Negro) Ibanez.  A Oaxaqueno.  In the posted introduction, I found possible explanations for the high photographic quality and impressive personalities.  The photos were captured on film, then developed and printed in the lab (not digital), and the subjects (Including Rivka Galchen), are authors that, over the years, participated in the Oaxaca Book Fair. 

P.S.
The next day I returned to the exhibition and tried to discover El Negro's magic.  I found some technical elements that he favored, but none that he used exclusively.  I realized that wide aperture, close perspective, or side-lighting, will not transform me into a photographer.  Maybe a film camera?