Tales from Our Skin

The photo camera automatically captures still images and, by that, gives sound definition to the age-old adage: "A picture speaks a thousand words."

But while the act of capturing pictures may be automatic for cameras, the equipment does not have the capacity to draw the perspective of an image's subject and theme - leaving that role to the intuitive eye of the photographer.

This fact is given due focus in "Tales from Our Skin," at Qube Gallery at The Henry Hotel. Opening on February 12, the exhibit gathers more than 30 photographs captured by Jose Antonio Nigro, whose bold take in framing portrait-inspired images mirrors his uninhibited stance in the telling of stories through the use of provocative, thought-inspiring compositions.

Essentially a traveling photography exhibit that had already been staged in Seoul, South Korea in 2012, "Tales from Our Skin" at Qube Gallery is Nigro's first photography exhibit in Cebu and in the country.

A Graphic Design graduate of the Centro Artistico Villasmil de Leon in Caracas, Venezuela, Nigro's penchant for documentary photography is evident in each of the presented photographs, which lend proof to his distinct attention to detail and solid understanding of how balancing light and shade can frame the telling of provoking visual tableaus.

"Tales of Our Skin" illustrates Nigro's compositional goals to break boundaries, capture beauty and combine spontaneity and significance in images - propped by his passion to underline the inherent strength and beauty of the human body. The exhibit runs until March 3.