Taking pictures is fun. To hide behind a little black box and play the game of immortalizing passing realities is fascinating. I feel privileged to be able to make a living shooting photographs and therefore try to take advantage of every chance I get to meet people and take their picture. I prefer to photograph people due to the thrill that a frozen gesture, an expression or a human movement can bring. It could be a professional model, a baby, a passerby, an athlete, an artist or a character barely distinguishable on the frame: to be able to transform 1/125 second of human life onto a new reality that will exist forever on a sheet of photographic paper is an irresistible act of magic that brings a unique and different outcome everytime.

Good photography is intimately related to the shooter's ability to keep "alive" the piece of reality he or she is trying to capture. There lies the difference between a "nice" photo and one that magically evoques new feelings and sentiments, defying all logical explanation. This "life" extinguishes itself very quickly; therefore, one must be well prepared to be able to capture it: camera ready, light measured, vantage point selected,etc. Taking any kind of photograph requires some sort of technical display; it is important for the photographer to acquire an intuitive capacity to handle the various pieces of equipment in order to avoid letting the photograph "die" between lens changes and repetitive light readings. I believe in the economy of means, on working fast and not letting the creative impulse get lost among technicalities. Many of my favorite pictures have been taken with a tripod and light coming through a window. I love to walk around with my Leica M6 and 50mm lens, nothing else, pure photography.

Rodolfo Benítez