Chema Madoz

Chema Madoz is a Spanish photographer from Madrid, Spain. She was born in 1958. She is best known for black and white surrealist and poetic photographs. She studied at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She has a book called Chema Madoz: Photography. 

I chose this photo because I found it visually appealing. I really like that she decided to use pencils to build a fire. This is something I would not have thought to do. I appreciate her initial creativity and her execution. She centered the fire, and I think that this choice makes the viewer really sit with the photo and contemplate what it could mean. I think that the way the pencils are sitting works linearly to draw the eye to the fire. I find the burnt parts of the pencil interesting because I've never seen a pencil burn, so I think that this new knowledge adds to the intrigue of the photo. I also like that she chose for this photo to be in black and white. I have never seen a fire in black and white, so I think that this makes the image increasingly more interesting. I like that the fire illuminates the background and that the image is vinigetted, whether by editing or by the fire alone. I think that in concept this image seems risky and like it may not go well, but I think that Madoz managed to pull it off and make it interesting.