We fell really hard for Panama-based film photographer and time-traveling artist Rafael Gonzalez (@rafagonzalezphoto), this year’s first art crush. His work has an effortless grace that leads us to believe his existence is the essence of right place right time.
His portfolio is a compilation of sharp black and white landscapes from the around the world, littered with boys frozen on skateboards. But, the work is not simply skateboard photography.
The skaters appear to enhance the architecture and textures of the cities they skate and the moments in which they dwell. The streets Gonzalez wanders and the places he photographs defy time and space, they could exist anywhere, in any decade. Some of the images have this vibe of how the world would go on turning if all of us were to just disappear.
I want to lie in the empty roads and beneath the handsome skateboarders, meditate on the monuments, and write poetry that may someday explain the way these photographs make me feel. He uses a range of film cameras, experimenting from large format to 35mm, and it gives his work a certain edge that feels both secretive and original, sacred and true.
