AK: Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?
SM: My name is Sebastian Mejia, I was born in Peru, raised in Colombia and I have been living in Chile for the past 12 years. I am a photographer and teacher based in Santiago.
AK: What is your relationship with photography and how did you get into it?
SM: I took my first photography course in high school and I never stopped shooting ever since. This was the late 90's so my photographic education was experienced during the transition from analog to digital. Now all my commercial work is digital obviously, but my personal work is solely analog captures.
AK: What do you think triggers you to photograph in a certain moment? Is it planned or solely driven by intuition?
SM: Intuition plays an important role, it all starts with walking. For my initial walks it's better to not have any preconceived ideas, that way I am more open to discoveries. After months of walking around certain areas, a photographic series start taking shape, that is when I start searching for more specific things.
AK: What is the story you want your pictures to tell?
SM: My work relies more on a spatial than temporal focus. There’s always a combination of natural and man-made forces at work in the urban territory. My objective is to allow space to speak for itself, let it be the main subject, the protagonist of the photograph. That way it can work as a portrait by indirect means, it can be a self-portrait or a collective one. The landscape becomes a surrogate for a psychological condition. Even though the image may seem vacant, it’s operating as a mirror reflecting the two individuals that are always present, the photographer and the audience.
AK: Which city would you like to visit the most, and why?
SM: I would love to visit Tokyo some day, Japanese culture has always attracted me.
The food, the architecture, philosophy, so many things, including the amazing photographic tradition!
AK: What is your personal relationship to cities and how do you perceive them as places in general?
SM: Cities are the scenarios for contemporary culture. National borders are now more porous than ever, it's up to the metropolis to serve as melting pots for different ways of life.
AK: What is the driving force behind creation?
SM: A profound need for human communication.
AK: Which project did you never finish?
SM: A project about waste disposal and landscape maintenance in my neighborhood.
AK: What is that «one thing» you have never managed to photograph and is now gone for good?
SM: I wish I had photographed my bedroom at different ages, the walls were full of collages which changed over time.
AK: If you could travel back/forth in time, what advice would you give your younger/older self?
SM: I would tell my younger self to take better care of my negatives!
Now I have to print old negatives that were very poorly fixed, full of weird stains that are impossible to get rid of.
AK: What do you prefer saying: «to take a photograph» or to «make a photograph», and why?
SM: I find myself saying both. I rarely construct my shots, they are mostly findings, but I do think photography always has something that we take and something that we make.
AK: What is the most interesting experience you have had while photographing?
SM: My photographic experiences are mostly anticlimactic, recently I attended the site of a massive social manifestation very early the next morning right after violent clashes of demonstrators with police. The barricades were still smoking, the ground was full of hurled rocks and tear gas cartridges. But there was absolut silence.
AK: If it wasn’t for photography, what would you be interested in doing instead?
SM: I am a frustrated architect.
AK: How would you describe one of your pictures to a blind person?
SM: Good question! I would say I photograph urban details in dialogue with natural forms. I tried getting into details but it was impossible.
AK: What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?
SM: I am currently working on a project about the urban landscape in relation to social demonstrations in Santiago. For my next project I would love to visit small cities all along Chile.
AK: Thank you, Sebastian!
If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.
Photography: Sebastian Mejia (2020)
Location: Santiago de Chile, Chile
Links: Instagram
AK: Please introduce yourself: What is your name, where are you from, what do you do?
SM: My name is Sebastian Mejia, I was born in Peru, raised in Colombia and I have been living in Chile for the past 12 years. I am a photographer and teacher based in Santiago.
AK: What is your relationship with photography and how did you get into it?
SM: I took my first photography course in high school and I never stopped shooting ever since. This was the late 90's so my photographic education was experienced during the transition from analog to digital. Now all my commercial work is digital obviously, but my personal work is solely analog captures.
AK: What do you think triggers you to photograph in a certain moment? Is it planned or solely driven by intuition?
SM: Intuition plays an important role, it all starts with walking. For my initial walks it's better to not have any preconceived ideas, that way I am more open to discoveries. After months of walking around certain areas, a photographic series start taking shape, that is when I start searching for more specific things.
AK: What is the story you want your pictures to tell?
SM: My work relies more on a spatial than temporal focus. There’s always a combination of natural and man-made forces at work in the urban territory. My objective is to allow space to speak for itself, let it be the main subject, the protagonist of the photograph. That way it can work as a portrait by indirect means, it can be a self-portrait or a collective one. The landscape becomes a surrogate for a psychological condition. Even though the image may seem vacant, it’s operating as a mirror reflecting the two individuals that are always present, the photographer and the audience.
AK: Which city would you like to visit the most, and why?
SM: I would love to visit Tokyo some day, Japanese culture has always attracted me.
The food, the architecture, philosophy, so many things, including the amazing photographic tradition!
AK: What is your personal relationship to cities and how do you perceive them as places in general?
SM: Cities are the scenarios for contemporary culture. National borders are now more porous than ever, it's up to the metropolis to serve as melting pots for different ways of life.
AK: What is the driving force behind creation?
SM: A profound need for human communication.
AK: Which project did you never finish?
SM: A project about waste disposal and landscape maintenance in my neighborhood.
AK: What is that «one thing» you have never managed to photograph and is now gone for good?
SM: I wish I had photographed my bedroom at different ages, the walls were full of collages which changed over time.
AK: If you could travel back/forth in time, what advice would you give your younger/older self?
SM: I would tell my younger self to take better care of my negatives!
Now I have to print old negatives that were very poorly fixed, full of weird stains that are impossible to get rid of.
AK: What do you prefer saying: «to take a photograph» or to «make a photograph», and why?
SM: I find myself saying both. I rarely construct my shots, they are mostly findings, but I do think photography always has something that we take and something that we make.
AK: What is the most interesting experience you have had while photographing?
SM: My photographic experiences are mostly anticlimactic, recently I attended the site of a massive social manifestation very early the next morning right after violent clashes of demonstrators with police. The barricades were still smoking, the ground was full of hurled rocks and tear gas cartridges. But there was absolut silence.
AK: If it wasn’t for photography, what would you be interested in doing instead?
SM: I am a frustrated architect.
AK: How would you describe one of your pictures to a blind person?
SM: Good question! I would say I photograph urban details in dialogue with natural forms. I tried getting into details but it was impossible.
AK: What are you currently working on, and—if there is—what is your next project or journey?
SM: I am currently working on a project about the urban landscape in relation to social demonstrations in Santiago. For my next project I would love to visit small cities all along Chile.
AK: Thank you, Sebastian!
If you have a project that you would like to present on this platform, please feel free to share it using the submission form.
Photography: Sebastian Mejia (2020)
Location: Santiago de Chile, Chile
Links: Instagram
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allcitiesarebeautiful.com is a community-driven, cross-disciplinary platform for contemporary documentary photography and literature.
News • Artists • Publishers • Submissions • Newsletter • Press • About • Imprint • RSS
