Spanish photographer finds light in his own darkness

Does the darkness in Joan Camp’s photographs mirror some darkness inside himself?

He wonders about that, he said. Every time he points a lens outward at a landscape, he’s also looking inward. He loves the way photography helps him connect with students and art lovers, he said — but only after his inner introvert has withdrawn from everyone and delved deep into nature.

One of his happiest memories, Camp said, is driving over to Cannon Beach in Oregon to photograph the night sky. He left at midnight with his coffee, his favorite music and the knowledge that he was heading for a great photo op. It was the very picture of joy, he said.

Camp, a native of Barcelona, Spain, has spent the past year living in Vancouver with his wife and two children. They had a sudden opportunity to try life in a cousin’s American hometown and made a quick decision, he said. But Camp and his wife, Anna, could only get student visas to study English here, not permits to work, and economic pressure means they must return to Spain this summer.

Camp, 40, doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to make a living as a self-employed photographer in Spain, or return to trades he’s labored in before, such as plumbing and manufacturing electrical cables. “I’m not sure if photography is my future,” he said in rough but functional English. “I like to think, but I can’t predict the future.” Freelancing is even harder there than here, he said.

You can meet Camp and view his work before he faces the future. Camp will exhibit 25 of his photographs at The Evergreen Room, a cozy event venue at 108 W. Evergreen, during today’s First Friday Art Walk.

The Evergreen Room is a recent arrival on the scene. It replaces Arlene Nunez’s previous downtown endeavor, her By The Bottle craft beer shop, which closed last year. Viewing Camp’s photos at The Evergreen Room is free and open to the public throughout May, but tonight you may want to consider forking over the $15 price for tastes of five Spanish wines and a selection of tapas. That also buys you a chance to win in a drawing one of Camp’s favorite dark, mysterious artworks.

American bubbles

Ask this visitor to America what he thinks of the place, and various things leap to the top of his list: traffic, hipster culture and homelessness.

Surprise: The traffic here is not that bad, he said. Just try driving in a city like Barcelona; it’s far more stressful and chaotic, he said, and the roads are narrow and cramped. Camp added that he loves the look and feel of “Portlandia” and its free-spirited inhabitants. He loves seeing guys — and gals — with big, artistic tatoos, he said.

And yet, Camp keeps hearing that living in the Portland area means he’s living “in a bubble.”

“I’ve never met any person who likes Trump,” he said. Foreign friends of his who have road-tripped through the American heartland discovered a totally different bubble, he said.

What disturbs Camp most is local homelessness. “In Spain, we don’t see so many homeless people. When I arrived here, it’s oh so sad,” he said. “Now I’m thinking it’s more of a huge problem. It has increased in one year.”

Losing, finding

The prize photo that will go home with some wine-and-tapas purchaser is this slightly surreal image of a little stone chapel near Camp’s home in Spain. You could even call the picture timeless — because it’s actually a seamless collage of 12 different photographs that Camp took in different levels of darkness, without quite knowing what he was after.

That’s how Camp started out in photography, he said: in the dark. He didn’t even pick up a serious camera until seven years ago, he said. He took some photography lessons from a childhood buddy, he said, and felt like he’d found a calling.

Since then he’s done personal portraits and city streets, but it always takes Camp a while to get comfortable around people, he said. He loves landscapes best because he can lose himself in nature — and find himself, too.

“Sometimes it’s an excuse to go hiking,” he said. “When I feel best is when I see the sunrise and sunset.”