Artist Soler may now be publicly demonstrating his passion for photography, years after developing it as a hobby and aide in his painting studies, but it does not mean that he is abandoning his paintbrushes for new camera lenses. Painting remains an integral part of his creative process, as seen in his latest one-man exhibit at West Gallery; he has just found a new outlet, a new medium in which to showcase new approaches to seeing and observing life as it happens in the background.
As he has done so successfully in the past, zooming into the lines, forms, and textures that made up roots, leaves, trees, waterfalls, and stones, Soler now directs viewers’ line of sight to the ground and what is left on it. Flat captures rarely noticed frogs as hapless victims of hit-and-run accidents. Soler’s new works breathe new life into these everyday pedestrian scenes, holding one’s attention to look closer and probe deeper into the details of the composition.
In 2010, Soler photographed the urban landscape in seemingly random yet purposeful fashion in exposing development and degradation. “What once was a wonderland of youth is now lost and buried under the pavement; old landscapes give way to urban structures and poured concrete, and Soler’s photographs seem bent on unearthing traces of that irretrievable past,” noted fellow painter Ronald Achacoso, keenly sensing Soler’s nostalgic bent.
This year, Soler revisits the same landscape, characterized by its ever-evolving nature, driving him to stop, look, and search for these rare, passing moments he might not encounter again. And he will continue doing so – taking pictures and painting such subjects, not merely for aesthetic reasons, but more so, to preserve what are essentially moving to a bygone era.
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