The respect - and sometimes the disappointment- which human beings inspire in us has been clearly recorded in these portraits made by Guillermo since the early 1980s. These gazes are full of symbolism and personality, bringing us so close, and so directly, to their subjects that we almost expect them to speak. His studio has captured the faces of strangers, friends and also prominent cultural figures. All of them have left something from deep within themselves behind, and now that the wind has swept everything away, it is as if they have taken on eternal life.

 

I remember those sessions. There was always a certain intrigue in the air, as if something unexpected were about to happen. Nothing happened by chance. It is my impression that even before he began shooting, he knew what he wanted and how he could get it. I have seen Guillermo adjusting the beam of light on the enlarger, teasing out new textures, revealing or concealing little corners, letting the surprising precision of his biological clock take control. A few seconds later, he would lift up the photographic paper with the same level of concentration he displayed when pressing the shutter.

You have to love your job in order to do things that way. And it shows. /