MO, born in La Paz, Bolivia, discovered his passion for photography after moving to Spain at a young age, and his love for street photography grew as he traveled across countries and continents. A self-taught photographer, Montes de Oca captures the essence of his surroundings through an emotional connection between the camera and the subject, conveying a distinct feeling in every shot — and for him, a photograph is never just an image.
Artist Statement
What is a photograph in the space of life, or in the wake of a world event? For MO, it represents a moment in time that cannot be replicated, erased, or forgotten. In Picasso's Guernica, four symbols capture the different dimensions of war's impact on a society searching to express its grief: the bull represents the brutality of political force, the lightbulb the destructive, merciless edge of technology, the grieving woman sorrow and pain, and the monochrome palette the nightmare of death. By contrast, photographs taken in the moment of an attack, and in its aftermath, each carry a story of their own — arguably more brutal than any painting completed once the horror has passed, and just as powerful in the remnants of devastation that linger for months and years afterward. The question that remains is what we, as spectators, take from those images — and what legacy we choose to leave for the next generation, and for our own children.