Bored Panda once again reached out to the artist, who kindly answered all of our questions.
Buscató’s ‘Hopscotch’ series captures everyday moments through a lens of childlike wonder. We were wondering how the artist initially conceived the idea for this series, and how has it evolved.
“Well, 'Hopscotch' is not a series, really. It was the name of a couple of solo exhibitions I had in Barcelona and Russia. The title seemed appropriate because I have always had a very playful approach to street photography, and 'hopscotch' is probably one of the most popular and extended street games on Planet Earth.
I actually don't work with series or projects. I know that's the 'academic' (and maybe the proper) way to do it, but I prefer to observe the streets without prefabricated photos in my mind. I enjoy the feeling, the freedom, of not knowing what I'm gonna shoot next. So, to answer your question, no... I didn't sit down and conceive an idea for a series of photos. They came more spontaneously than that. They are the result of a process of walk-see-react, that usually involves a lot of play, too.
I started with street photography in 2012, first in black and white, and since Jan 2014 only in color. The main purpose when I started was just to de-stress from a stressful job, explore, and have fun with the camera. No expectations. No plans. Just get out and play, an approach that still is the main drive in my photography,” explained Pau Buscató.
Buscató’s approach to street photography seems rooted in intuition and spontaneity. We asked the photographer to elaborate on how he maintains this balance between planned exploration and embracing the unexpected while shooting.
“There is very little planned exploration in my photography. For example, I do not plan the route I'll take in the city: I start at one point and let the photos guide me through. Sometimes, though, if I find a spot that I feel it has potential because it triggers an idea or something, I'll try there for a while, and if I fail to get what I had in mind (usually the case), I'll come back and re-try again another day. This was the case in the London photo with the graphic birds, the hole in the fabric, and the real bird. I tried and failed many, many times,” shared Pau.
Buscató also shared whether diverse cultural landscapes influence his creative vision and the stories the photographer aims to tell through his work.
“I traveled much more before the pandemics, not so much lately. I went mainly to big Western cities like Barcelona, London, or NYC and also took a 3.5-month trip to India in 2017. Ideally, one's creative vision should not change depending on where they are. This does not mean that the place doesn't matter. It matters, of course, and it should inspire your creative vision but not change it.
India, though... I believe that one of the traps a (street) photographer can easily fall into is the trap of the exotic. Thinking that a photo is good just because it contains an exotic scene or subject. A photo of a beautiful sunset is generally a boring photo of a beautiful scene. The same happens with 'the exotic'. I was not there to document the beauty in front of me, I was there to see that beauty (or ugliness) through my own (creative) lens. Like Erwitt (RIP) said: it's not about the things you see, it's about THE WAY you see them.
One thing that was definitely different in India is that people generally didn't mind being photographed in the streets. This made it a bit easier as it removed one of the worries many street photographers face: confrontation.”
The photographer has experienced quite an amount of incredible coincidences. We asked if he could share a moment or photo that felt truly magical. Buscató wrote: “Well.. it's not exactly magical and probably not one of my best pics, who knows.. but I was going through a painful heartbreak when I found this (under construction pic) while shooting in Madrid. Maybe what we see is often influenced by what we feel in each moment. Makes sense, no? Another example is the fallen flower pic: I was that tulip in the moment of the photo.”
And lastly, Buscató added: “Nothing special. Some people ask me how I can be so lucky while shooting on the streets… but I would say the opposite is actually more accurate. I try and fail so many times, I am unlucky so many times. This is definitely a game of patience.”
