ARTIST OF MONTH - February 2021 - Manuel Moncayo

A year ago

QUICK FIRE ROUND with Manuel Moncayo

- what was the first photography book you bought?
I can’t remember the first one I ever bought, but I do remember the excitement of getting a copy of the rock diary of Hedi Slimane on my first trip to Europe.

- what is your favourite colour?
It has changed with the years, when I was a kid the color pencil I would exhaust the most from the box was cobalt green. As a young adult I worked as a creative director in fashion and I would design entire monochromatic collections in primary colors. At the moment I am drawn towards iridescent and metallic colors in nature.

- who are your photographic influences?
I never felt more inspired than after watching movies by Wong Kar-wai. 'In The Mood For Love' is my parameter for measuring beauty.

- what is your favourite museum?
The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.

- if you could buy any photograph which would it be?
Anything by Eadweard Muybridge, Luke Smalley or Karl Blossfeldt.

- your favourite holiday destination?
Japan, Japan and Japan, the people are so pretty, the silence, the food.

- if there is one living person you could photograph who would it be?
Cyprien Gaillard, because he looks like he doesn’t like to be photographed.

- what is your guilty pleasure?
I grew up with catholic guilt so I try not to fall into it. A lot of things give me pleasure: forgetting stuff, laughing and daydreaming are top of my list.

- what is your favourite city?
Vienna because of the museums AND THE CAKE! Kyoto because of the landscapes and food. Madrid because it makes me feel lost.

- which charities do you support?
I have participated in the last editions of Elledorado art charity which takes places at Schwules Museum Berlin, an art auction that benefits LGBT projects worldwide.

See all Manuel Moncayo artworks here