Karen Toro

Freelance photographer

www.karentoro.com/

Belén 1987 - 2016 [ongoing]

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Location: Quito, Ecuador

Nationality: Ecuadorian

Biography: Quito, 1990. My work in the artistic and photographic field is related to issues of human rights, migration, education and gender. My labour is based on the belief in the social importance of photography as a way to relate, make visible and... MORE

1. This project is a memory exercise based on the repetition of the last photograph I took of one of my best friends, Belén Peralta, before her violent murder, a femicide. This image, an analog black and white photograph, blurred, out of focus and in motion, is now understood as a premonition of her absence. This image of Belén, or of her ghost, predates her death. A gesture of repetition in various forms to find clues, to heal a mourning, but above all not to forget.
2. This photograph was developed several months after Belén's femicide, I did not even remember having taken it, since then I return to it constantly:
In the insistent exploration of this image I try to make it appear, to make it present again.
I invoke it and make an offering to it.
Repetition as a gesture and the concept of the phantom guide this search:
the image as omen.
Impression.
Composed of in, 'inward', and premo, 'to press'. The image, mark, impression, to press and heal the pain of a very long mourning.
I have this image: vague, blurred, noisy,
the image of another image,
that of a distant memory.
The image of an omen.
The image of Belén, or her ghost.
How do times become visible?
Can I stretch an image?
"history itself appears to us in a passing glow that must be called an image..." (Didi-Huberman, Survival of the Fireflies)
Exercise against amnesia
the external one,
that of "justice",
but above all one's own.
What I have now is this image.
"Habito is a frequentative of habeo [to have]: to inhabit is a special way of having, a having so intense as to possess nothing else. By force of having something, we inhabit it, we become its own." (Agamben, Self-Portrait in the Studio)

+ Part of this project was a finalist in the IV edition of the Brazil Emerging Art Award at the Contemporary Art Center of Quito.
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ESP

1. Este proyecto es un ejercicio de memoria a partir de la repetición de la última fotografía que le hice a una de mis mejores amigas, Belén Peralta, antes de su asesinato violento, un feminicidio. Esta imagen, una fotografía analógica en blanco y negro, borrosa, desenfocada y en movimiento es entendida ahora como una premonición de su ausencia. Esa imagen de Belén, o de su fantasma, es anterior a su muerte. Un gesto de repetición en variadas formas para encontrar pistas, para sanar un duelo, pero sobre todo para no olvidar.
2. Esta fotografía fue revelada varios meses después del feminicidio de Belén, yo ni siquiera recordaba haberla hecho, desde entonces vuelvo a ella constantemente:
En la exploración insistente de esta imagen intento hacerla aparecer, hacerla de nuevo presente.
La invoco y le hago una ofrenda.
La repetición como gesto y el concepto del fantasma guían esta búsqueda:
la imagen como presagio.
Impresión.
Compuesto por in, ‘hacia adentro’, y premo, ‘presionar’. La imagen, marca, impresión, para presionar y sanar el dolor de un duelo muy largo.
Tengo esta imagen: vaga, borrosa, ruidosa,
la imagen de otra imagen,
la de un recuerdo lejano.
La imagen de un presagio.
La imagen de Belén, o la de su fantasma.
¿Cómo los tiempos se hacen visibles?
¿Puedo estirar una imagen?

“la propia historia se nos aparece en un resplandor pasajero que hay que llamar imagen..” (Didi-Huberman, Supervivencia de las luciérnagas)
Ejercicio contra la amnesia
la externa,
la de la “justicia”,
pero sobre todo la propia.

Lo que tengo ahora es esta imagen.
"Habito es un frecuentativo de habeo [tener]: habitar es un modo especial del tener, un tener tan intenso como para no poseer nada más. A fuerza de tener algo, lo habitamos, nos volvemos suyos." (Agamben, Autorretrato en el estudio)

+ Una parte de este proyecto quedó finalista en la IV edición del Premio Brasil de Arte Emergente en el Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Quito.

Embroidery is one of the techniques that allows me to weave our friendship again. Invisible stitching to heal the wound of a very long mourning. Embroidery transforms the image, but it also transforms me.

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ESP

El bordado es una de las técnicas que me permite volver a tejer nuestra amistad. La costura invisible para curar la herida de un duelo muy largo. El bordado transforma la imagen, pero también me transforma a mí.

Obsession:

"is something or someone that continually returns, that survives everything,
that reappears from time to time, that enunciates a truth as to the origin.
It is something or someone that cannot be forgotten but that, nevertheless, impossible to recognize clearly"

___

La obsesión:

"es algo o alguien que vuelve continuamente, que sobrevive a todo,

que reaparece de cuando en cuando,

que enuncia una verdad en cuanto al origen.Es algo o alguien que no se puede olvidar pero que, sin embargo, es imposible reconocer con claridad"

Didi-Huberman, 2018

This work was exhibited at the Photography Center of Montevideo, in Uruguay, at the MUFF International Photography Festival, from September 2022 to March 2023.

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The project Sostengo su imagen: Belén 1987-2016 is an exercise in memory based on the repetition of the last photograph I took of one of my friends, Belén Peralta, before her violent murder, a femicide.

I developed this photograph several months after her death, I didn't even remember taking it, and since then I constantly return to it.

That image of Belén, or her ghost, predates her death, so this blurry, out-of-focus, and moving black and white analog photograph is now understood as a premonition of her absence.

A gesture of repetition in various forms to find clues, to heal a mourning, but above all not to forget. In the persistent exploration of this image, I try to make her appear, to make her present again. I invoke her and make an offering.

To Belén's portrait, I have added photographs of objects that I treasure of her or that speak of her death. Fragments of a chronicle I wrote about our friendship and her absence can also be read.

Fotografia producida por un fot... de Fotografía MUFF.

Fotografia producida por un fotografo del CdF. 6 de septiembre de 2022, montaje de la exposición Caminos Conjuntos, Festival Internacional de Fotografía MUFF.

PLAY

STOP

GRID

FULL

LOVE

Thumbnail of Belén 1987 - 2016 [ongoing]

Thumbnail of Fotografia producida por un foto_l de Fotografía MUFF.

Public Story

Belén 1987 - 2016 [ongoing]

Copyright Karen Toro 2024

Date of Work Mar 2019 - Ongoing

Updated Jun 2021

Location Quito, Ecuador

Topics Conceptual, Femicide, Feminism, Film, Fine Art, Mixed Medium, Womens Rights

[Ongoing project]

This project is a memory exercise based on the repetition of the last photograph I took of one of my best friends, Belén Peralta, before her violent murder, a femicide. This image, an analog black and white photograph, blurred, out of focus and in motion, is now understood as a premonition of her absence. This image of Belén, or of her ghost, predates her death. A gesture of repetition in various forms to find clues, to heal a mourning, but above all not to forget.

This photograph was developed several months after Belén's femicide, I did not even remember having taken it, since then I return to it constantly: In the insistent exploration of this image I try to make it appear, to make it present again. I invoke it and make an offering to it. Repetition as a gesture and the concept of the phantom guide this search: the image as omen.

Este proyecto es un ejercicio de memoria a partir de la repetición de la última fotografía que le hice a una de mis mejores amigas, Belén Peralta, antes de su asesinato violento, un feminicidio. Esta imagen, una fotografía analógica en blanco y negro, borrosa, desenfocada y en movimiento es entendida ahora como una premonición de su ausencia. Esa imagen de Belén, o de su fantasma, es anterior a su muerte. Un gesto de repetición en variadas formas para encontrar pistas, para sanar un duelo, pero sobre todo para no olvidar.

Esta fotografía fue revelada varios meses después del feminicidio de Belén, yo ni siquiera recordaba haberla hecho, desde entonces vuelvo a ella constantemente: En la exploración insistente de esta imagen intento hacerla aparecer, hacerla de nuevo presente. La invoco y le hago una ofrenda. La repetición como gesto y el concepto del fantasma guían esta búsqueda: la imagen como presagio.

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Karen Toro

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