Everyone, like me, has the future in the past. Fernando Pessoa.

“Every time, under the influence of my dreams,” in The Book of Disquiet (178).

Clara de Tezanos – as we will see – can be known much more through this book than through her extensive and intense participation in photographic exhibitions, whether as an artist or a curator. Under the title “Por Maniobras de un Terceto” – along with her latest book, “Piedra-Padre, Universo” (2017) – the artist has put forward a proposal so disruptive in her practice that it has turned the gaze not on her photography, but on herself. So, what may be latent amid the history of those unknown characters (that trio) and the autobiographical inclinations of the author?

The origin of its contents may shed some light: the photographs gathered in “Por Maniobras de un Terceto” come from both the artist’s personal archive (built over more than 10 years) and her family albums. But one should not be confused; even when Clara appears in these photos, her self-portraits are far from being merely self-referential; the author has occupied every possible space at the same time: she has taken on the archetypal role of the individual by portraying herself according to canonical representations of femininity; by adopting the pose of her grandmother, she has taken on the role of the social order represented by her family nucleus; and by superimposing herself on Celestial and Terrestrial themes, she has taken on the role of the natural and unavoidable law that measures the first two. In this way, culture (the social and family nucleus), the forces of nature (astronomical time, vegetal power), and the individual interweave, juxtapose, and overlap, not to tell us what happened to the trio but to bring us closer to her confession. And it is only the identification and disidentification with the characters and motifs represented that allow us to simultaneously approach all those involved, while proposing this arrangement of images as a method of genealogical navigation and as a way to reclaim family history as one’s own. The editing and montage, and remounting of the photographs, carry out that unifying intertwining of the author with her ancestors (also portrayed) and with her position in the Universe to the point of making them indistinguishable.

Carlos A. Segura.

Editor-in-Chief for Operations, Costa Rica.

Clara de Tezanos (1986-) is a photographer, Co-Founder of the Center for Contemporary Photography and La Fototeca. She has recently served as Chief Curator for Espacio Satélite and Fototropía, as a photography reviewer, and as Editorial Director of multiple publications such as Prisma I (2015), Nueva Generación (2014), Prisma II (2018), and Lenguajes de Luz: Dos Siglos de Fotografía en Guatemala (1844-2018) (2018), and author of Piedra-Padre, Universo (2017). She is currently working on the editorial project Luciara, dedicated to promoting and strengthening photobook production in Guatemala and the region.

[Clara de Tezanos’s website: http://claradetezanos.com/]