Laberinto | Alejandro Chaskielberg

Hidden in Patagonia is a maze grown by couple Claudio Levi and Doris Romera. When Alejandro Chaskielberg visited the maze with his infant daughter in 2014, he was struck by its mesmerizing effect on visitors and its transformative quality as a timeless, fictional space. For roughly two years, he employed his experience as a cinematographer to create enticing nighttime scenes which invite the viewer to experience the maze as an enchanting dramatic journey.

_______

Hidden among the mountains of Patagonia is a maze grown and nurtured for over two decades by Claudio Levi and Doris Romera. The couple grew the maze on land damaged by mass fires in the late 1980s as a counter-cultural gesture and a symbol of their love. In 2014 Alejandro Chaskielberg (born 1977 in Buenos Aires) visited the maze with his 18 month-old daughter. As he entered the maze, he was struck by its mesmerizing effect on those in it: It seemed as though the children had become mythical creatures, and the adults had become children. The maze’s transformative quality as a timeless, fictional space led him to a concentrated photographic project within it, lasting roughly two years.
Chaskielberg’s fascination has prompted him to fuse together land art, night photography, portrait photography and film direction. In his first photo series, the maze’s mysterious and enchanting qualities are conveyed using different kinds of lanterns, moonlight and 10-minute-long exposures. At the same time, merely documenting the maze was not enough for Chaskielberg, and he decided to enlist his training and skills as a cinematographer. Inspired by Stanley Kubrik’s The Shining and its multitude of mental and physical mazes, and especially by its iconic and climactic chase scene through a snowy maze, Chaskielberg became a film director, creating scenes of moving people, torches, painted trees and elaborate, enticing imagery.
Dramatics are Chaskielberg’s trademark in every series created thus far. The night photographs and his unique colors are evident in this series as well, its story-like quality sending the viewer into the realm of the imaginary.

In collaboration with the Embassy of Argentina