Imaginarios de espíritu urbano venezolano

Abstract

History of Documentary Photography in Venezuela is rich in representations which on the idea of the city have been promoted from within their own social dynamics, joined with the ruling state policies. There are two prevailing discourses, both ideological and visual, which are part of the Venezuelan urban imaginary: the idea of positive, ideal, progressive, modern, happy city, and the negative conception, according to reality, the consumer, unequal, violent city. Many photographers have explored and recorded images that feed this dichotomy. But photography as art, as an expression, susceptible to the search of new possibilities of interpretation and representation, building communication bridges between the city and those who inhabit it, has also been promoter of the true urban spirit that coexists within the Venezuelan city, which moves itself between the positive and negative city, which apprehends the habitual as culture and urban identity, invoking a fundamental change in the way of seeing the major city in antagonistic terms, when it comes to the expression of our sense of coexistence.