Alejandro Chaskielberg is an Argentinian photographer known for his technique using a 4×5 large-format camera performing long-time exposure in moonlight. The exhibit I saw this weekend was a series of photos he took of illegal Paraguayan immigrants living and working in the Parana-Plata river basin, which is a swamp area in Argentina north of Buenos Aires. Apparently he spent several periods over the course of a year (only 3 or 4 nights a month, dictated by the lunar cycle) getting to know the people, and would set up a shot on a given afternoon, and then they would wait together for the sunset and moonrise. Then when the moon had risen to an adequate level, he would begin the exposure and ask his subject to hold a pose for 5-6 minutes while he ran around the site with a flashlight, distributing light in specific places to augment the moonlight. The effect is magical. You can see more of his work at his blog and web site: http://www.chaskielberg.blogspot.com/ and http://www.chaskielberg.com
“El Doble”
(Photo taken from Libby’s Niche.)
