A synonym for awe-inspiring: JAVIER ARCENILLAS

I have many heroes in the world of photography. But, once you see Javier Arcenillas‘s work, you would have to place him near the top of the list if not at the very top. With each image, I react. Arcenillas’s photography, regardless of location (Bangladesh, Northern Africa, North America, South America), is so powerful and so riveting that we can’t help but respond. It would be virtually impossible to ignore a single shot. So firm is the grip that you can’t look away from what he is showing us.

I urge you to view his work (click here). My enthusiasm is so great that if I could accompany him on a shoot, even if just to fetch coffee, it would be like swimming in a pool of inspiration, the immersion would be so all consuming and life altering.

I don’t think Arcenillas is capable of capturing the mediocre, unless it were of course to mean a compelling image that shouts the message of mediocrity. His imprint is so strong and his ability of stripping down a scene or a person’s soul into a simple but moving statement is his signature. Every single image is as if signed by a master.

But, his images speak more emphatically than I can describe, so here is but a small sampling: