Ernesto Navarro, a photographer and graphic designer living in Bucaramanga, Colombia, enjoys giving expression to big philosophical ideas through simple arrangements of props and colours.
In his series “Vanitas Vanitatum” – which is inspired by the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes – he plays with the many meanings of the word “vanity”. Here it appears as “hollowness” and “pride over one’s appearance” and “cosmetics”. Ernesto uses red and purple walls, white body paint and exaggerated headgear.
He comments: “These images are inspired by vanity. Vanity is something that lasts a moment. Man wishes to overcome God, forgetting that he is a mortal and finite being.”
His other series called “Hypothesis” draws from Zen metaphors. Here he shows faces, complete and incomplete, made up of weird strips and tubes.
Ernesto studied under the New York-based Colombian fashion and portrait photographer Ruven Afanador. His photographs have been exhibited in Germany, France, Italy and Poland. He has also worked on commissions for the magazines Wired, Fucsia, Semana, Money and JetSet.
Links: Facebook (www.facebook.com/ernestonavarrofotografo) | Behance (www.saatchiart.com/ernestonavarro) | Behance (www.behance.net/ernestonavarrostudio)
Images used with permission.
From “Vanitas Vanitatum” series:
From “Hypothesis” series:
Other works:
On Art and Aesthetics 