Last Updated on 09/26/2017 by Chris Gampat
All images by Mauricio Candela. Used with Creative Commons Permission.Â
One of the qualities that make childhood memories powerful subjects for creative work is their universality. While we differ in experiences, the nostalgia of our younger years is something we all feel once in a while. Today’s photography inspiration will surely inspire you to take a trip down memory lane for your own creative work.
Florida-based Mauricio Candela joins our roster of noteworthy photographers with works portraying childhood for his set entitled Nostalgia Project. In this series, he explores the curious relationship between childhood memories and the specific nostalgic feelings they bring. If Julien Coquentin’s Black Seasons is a record of his attempt to reconnect with the parts of his youth he holds dear, Mauricio’s project recalls a time when everyone’s childhood was surrounded and shaped by the simple joys of life.
Today, he says, children are heavily exposed to and immersed in technology, to the point where it seems that “their imagination is now at the mercy of tablets and dictated by smartphones and video game consoles.” As a response to this alarming reality, Mauricio made use of his creative vision to “remind us that innocence, simplicity, and creativity are the foundations of any childhood.” He believes these elements are crucial to what makes the childhood of past generations strongly nostalgic.
To create his emotive ode to childhood, Mauricio spent almost a year scouting for models who could accurately portray the characters he had in mind, and the meanings they represent. The preparation, composition, and post-processing were kept faithful to his message of simplicity, opting natural make-up for his young models and photographing them against a minimalist scene.
“We can clearly experience a ‘feeling’ viewing it,” he confidently says, and I definitely agree. The photos take us back to simpler and easier days indeed, when simple toys kept us content and preoccupied, and happiness meant days of carefree frolic with friends.
Visit Mauricio Candela’s Behance portfolio to see more of the Nostalgia Project and his other equally impressive works.
