Premio Combat Prize

Ripples never come back
A young woman, partially submerged in a pond, caresses the smooth surface of water producing subtle waves around. A bright light reflects on her figure, emphasizing a feeling of freshness and vitality, instantly transmitted in the photograph. However, the woman’s face remains veiled by the branches in the foreground. It is no coincidence that the two green stems form a cross through its intersection, as if denying something, precisely masking out delicately the beauty of her body.
“Ripples never come back” becomes the metaphor for beauty and its transience. Like the lyrics from Genesis’ song, here ripples allude to the unrecoverable passage of time. What starts out strong and beautiful, gradually loses its purity to become part of the ordinary. This series, full of symbolism and intuition, also draws attention to life itself. Live in the moment! cries out, making you think about precious moments that never come back. They’ve gone to the other side…
Miguel Soler-Roig (Barcelona, 1961) His education has been influenced by the Bauhaus and the new Swiss typographic style. He studied at the Basel Art School. Subsequently completed a Masters in Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. For several years has been living and working in New York, and after his return to Spain he continued his studies in photography, completing a Master of Art in Photography at the European Institute of Design in Madrid (IED), and numerous professional photography workshops organized by PhotoEspaña.
Today, as an artist, photography is his primary concern and interest. Miguel lives the moments while photographing, but as he says, sometimes portrays what he wants to live. Some of the most prominent spaces where he has shown his work are: RISD Museum of Art, Providence, American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York; Schule für Gestaltung, Basel; PhotoEspaña festival, Madrid; IVAM Museum, Valencia and FotoFest Houston.Recent solo exhibitions and group shows: Madrid Photo; Copenhagen Photo Festival; Gallery 1650, Los Angeles; Antonio Saura Foundation, Cuenca; Lisbon Art Fair; Galeria Alejandro Sales, Barcelona; JustMad Fair, Madrid; ”Mutants Books” La Casa Encendida, Madrid; Arte Laguna the Arsenale, Venice; ABSOLUT PHE Portfolio’s Show, Madrid; The Story of the Creative, New York; PINTA New York, Gallery Blanca Berlin.
AWARDS
Finalist NexoFoto Iberoamerican Photography Price 2014. Finalist and honorable mention at ABSOLUT PHE Photography Prize 2013, Madrid. Finalist Arte Laguna Art Prize 12.13, MoCA Italy, 2013, Venice. Award of Excellence “Design for the Public Good 1987,” AIGA, New York. Gerrit Rietveld Academie Award, ICOGRADA International Conference, Amsterdam.
PUBLICATIONS
Sand Dreams, 2014, MadridThe Great American Nude, 2013, Madrid Arte Laguna Art Prize 12.13, MoCA Italy, 2013, Venice Projects, European Master of Fine Art Photography, 2012, IED Madrid Deja de Sufrir, Limited edition artist book, 2012, Madrid Fronteras sin Limites, 2011, Madrid. From Time to Time, 2010, Barcelona Design Process, 1987, Providence, RI, Providence / Destiny, 1985, Barcelona