Statement

«Beauty dwells in the eyes of the beholder, but shadows unveil what light cannot name.»

I invite you to step into this dialogue between light and darkness that has always been the secret language of my soul. Every photograph I present to you is born from this eternal dance between clarity and twilight, a dance that has shaped my own journey.

In my pictorialist work, chiaroscuro is not merely a technical choice but a silent confession. By capturing that fleeting moment when light caresses shadow, I seek to reveal something intimate: that the deepest beauty emerges precisely in those thresholds of transition, at the border where luminous and obscure coexist.

As John Keats wrote in his Ode on a Grecian Urn: «Beauty is truth, truth beauty» —and there is no truth more honest than that which acknowledges our dual nature. My camera chases this paradox, striving to immortalize moments where light does not erase darkness but embraces and transforms it.

Every image you behold is a fragment of my journey through existence’s contrasts. In them, I offer you not just an aesthetic vision but an invitation: to recognize your own light and shadows, to find beauty even in the corners life leaves veiled in twilight.

For as Goethe profoundly reflected, light only gains meaning when contrasted with darkness. And within this understanding—in embracing both extremes—lies perhaps our deepest connection to what defines us.

With heart in my gaze.

Biography

Diego Orlando is a photographer and visual artist born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, whose work is distinguished by merging the aesthetic richness of pictorial tradition with a profoundly contemporary vision. With an initial background in interior architecture and an MBA in Creative Photography from the University of Catalonia, his approach combines meticulous technical mastery with an artistic sensibility that seeks to transcend the obvious.


Inspired by the great masters of chiaroscuro and the innovators of Pictorialism, Diego creates images that explore universal themes from an intimate and emotional perspective. His work establishes a dialogue between past and present, where light and shadows reveal hidden narratives in the most fleeting details.


Diego Orlando's career includes exhibitions at renowned galleries and biennials in cities such as Los Angeles, Paris, Milan, London, and Madrid, consolidating his position in the international contemporary art circuit. His work has been recognized in prestigious competitions, including the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2024, where his piece «El Caballero de Papel» (The Paper Knight) stood out for its bold reinterpretation of classical iconography through innovative visual narrative.


Currently dividing his time between Caracas, San Sebastián, and Barcelona, these cities enrich his multicultural perspective and nourish his artistic practice. His work, marked by carefully composed theatricality, connects with international audiences by inviting viewers to discover new dimensions of the everyday and participate in a visual reflection that transcends time.