Chilean cable t.v. is endlessly looping Café Tacuba’s latest music video. It’s by way of this that I came to ask myself, “Is it just me or does David Grohl from the Foo Fighters look like Emmanuel del Real from Café Tacuba?”.
Emmanuel del Real or David Grohl?
I thought it was about time to publish an interview –I’d been sitting on for almost two years.
Sonja San Martin is a rising Chilean photographer. Her works have been published in magazines such as Rocinante, El Sur, Colegio Médico de Chile (Medical Journal of Chile), Hatuey, and her photography has made the cover of PROhumana. In 2007, she exhibited a series called “Cucao: Luces y Colores de Chiloé” centering on Cucao (50 km. southeast of Castro, Chile) –at the Marta Colvin hall (Universidad de Bío-Bío) in Chillán, Chile. In 2006, she did camera and photography work for Yiri Culture’s documentary “Le Pont de la Joie” as a French/Chilean cross cultural exercise and analysis, where sixth grader artwork from both countries were exchanged. In that same year, she travelled to France to do a documentary as part of the same project. She has also offered introduction to photography and journalism workshops in Castro and Chillán.
San Martin studied at the Universidad de Serena in 2001, and later with the Taller de Fotografía de Reportage in the Escuela Portafolio in 2003. Sonja San Martin obtained a college (instituto profesional) degree in Audio Visual Communications from DUOC in 2004.
Maurice Cepeda-Gonzalo Millán Tribute, 2007
I met Sonja San Martin through a mutual journalist friend, Rodolfo Hlousek, in 2006, when I was asked to perform for a tribute to the Chilean poet Gonzalo Millán. From the moments I’ve spent with San Martin and based on her work, she strikes me as a bright, talented artist, one that’s excited about life, and one that sees life via a different and sincere perspective; San Martin speaks her mind, when others might not want to rock the boat. For instance, she does not sugarcoat her disdain of the Chillán poetry scene (if not most of its participants), which might be odd considering she covered Chillán’s 2007 Tribute to Gonzalo Millán, but I gather this simply attests to Millán’s posthumous charisma. (The photograph contained herein, was taken by San Martin during that very same tribute.)
In my interview below, San Martin talks about her imputus for taking photos. Interestingly, she says that this stems from a desire to catalogue, create, and self-heal, rather than from a drive to express herself –although one could argue that all action is self-expression. The interview initially starts with a bit on her social life, artistic start, whether her work is art, her modus operandi, instinct vs. technique, if she keeps abreast with current photography trends, and her web presence. San Martin also mentions her soft-drug use as a young person, her latter struggles with depression and panic attacks, and how photography has helped her overcome these obstacles.
Considering that I rarely see San Martin in person, she consented to being interviewed during an IM conversation on July 18, 2007. Then later in December 2007, she encouraged self-publication of said interview on this very same blog. Below is my own translation of the colloquial Chilean Spanish. I’ve tried to remain as literal as possible, unless incomprehensible in English or where typical North American idioms fit. My comments are in square brackets, “[]“. These are sometimes used to clarify or complete ideas that may not be logical or obvious to the native English speaker.
Enjoy!
