The (Invisible) Art of Documenting Art

We are screen art spectators. Virtual consumers of contemporary art. Visitors to museums, galleries, biennials, and art fairs without having to move from where we are, thanks to professionals who portray artworks, exhibitions, installations, performances, and even sound art. Their ways of looking produce images that synthesize and transform the artworks, opening doors to curiosity.

Who are these photographers? How is the process they follow when creating images? How do they manage to stand out in the era of smartphones and platforms of compulsive consumption of images? Why in the art system, specially concerned about authorship, they are so unnoticed that one needs a magnifying glass to find their name in the credits?

Visual artist Cristina Garrido went to meet eight of them (Roberto Ruiz, Peter Cox, Moritz Bernoully, Carlos Díaz Corona, PJ Rountree, Erika Barahona Ede, Ela Bialkowska y Andrea Rossetti). This is the story –or at least one of the stories– of art’s B-side: the (invisible) figure of the photographer who documents contemporary art.