Presencia ausente. Juan Rulfo, fotógrafo

Abstract

A relation is established between Rulfo’s literature and his photographic work. The literature of Rulfo fills his photographs with presences, makes the viewer see what is not in them; they are absent presences. Photography has an indicatory character, not an arbitrary one. Being indicatory, Rulfo’s images send us to the moment and the circumstances of the taking of the photograph, and toward that which is not visible in them. The desolation “that exists throughout the literary work of Rulfo also appears in his photographic images.” This desolation returns us “to those who are not here, to those who have gone, to the dead.” In the photography of Rulfo, it is more important what is not there than what we see.