Photo Archive
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2010s
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Photo Archive ✺ 2010s ✺
Andrés E. Rangel’s 2010s works unfold in a bold, vibrant palette with a Warholian-Almodóvarian flair, steeped in the playful excess of Latinx Kitsch and Camp. Through ornamented portraits, experimental social nudes, and raw anti-selfies, he staged the body as both spectacle and testimony—affirming individuality, sexuality, and nudity as acts of celebration, resistance, and healing.
Andrés' first group show outside of university featured his photo essay titled "Mandamientos" (Commandments). This series challenges and disobeys traditional macho constructs surrounding gender and the body.
Rangel’s early work reveals a penchant for varied color palettes which—paired with a tendency toward what he now recognizes as ADHD-related indecisiveness—results in rich, layered gradients that evoke a distinctly Warholian quality.
His 'Corpus Delicti' and 'Unselfie' essays are ongoing series that serve as both a form of therapy and embodiment of self. In these series, he portrays himself either in the nude or in distress, driven by the primary goal of confronting the not-so-loved aspects of his body, as well as delving into reaching-bottom moments of pain, defeat, lust, void, high & low self-esteem.
Corpus Delicti and Unselfie are not just acts of self-mercy and self-love but also acts of exorcism and liberation. While most of these series remain private, they serve a personal purpose of remembrance and self-exploration.
His full name is Andrés Elías Rangel Díaz (b. December 20th, 1991). A Metal Goat (Lunar), born at the cusp of Sagittarius and Capricorn—a proper Millennial from San José, Costa Rica. He arrived 24 hours late, on the final day of the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn.
He is the son of Francia Díaz Sánchez (Scorpio, b. 1968), the youngest of eight siblings—a fierce Costa Rican single mother and knitter-fashionista from the Central Valley. He was partly raised by his maternal grandparents: Gladys Sánchez Chinchilla (Gemini, b. 1927) and Humberto Díaz Cruz (Virgo, b. 1924). He met his father, Miguel Rangel González (Gemini, b. 1968)—a Mexican retinologist from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco—on his 10th birthday.
Andrés’ first muses were his madre and abuelita (a.k.a. Bilibilita). His rising and moon are both in Gemini, and his Venus sits in Scorpio—though he’s never been particularly thrilled about either.
He is married to a Metal Cock Xennial from 1981—a born-and-raised New Yorker, a beautiful soul, a Virgo Sun/Scorpio Moon economist and contemporary ballet choreographer.
(Unrelated?): Can someone explain how a galloping Sag is supposed to cope with so much Gemini, Virgo, and Scorpio energy…? In any case;
Andrés is the eldest of five younger siblings. Though he is the only child of his mother and father. Throughout his childhood he always asked his single mother for a sibling. He was an only child up to age 11… Although in fact, he wasn’t (…) On his 10th birthday he met his father, who’d driven for three days from México City to Costa Rica with his pregnant wife and his son and daughter. Just like that, Andrés went from having zero siblings to having two and a half. It was love at first sight. That same year, his mom got pregnant, so he went from zero to two and a half to four. Andrés who had asked for siblings all of his childhood, suddenly happened to have four siblings. But then again, less than two years later, his mom got pregnant once more, leading Andrés to having now five siblings altogether.
Andrés has two brothers, both named Esteban – one Esteban (CR), the other one Miguel Esteban (MX). And he has three sisters: Victoria (MX), Fernanda (MX), and Romina (CR). He loves every single one of them, and up to today, he still hasn’t had the pleasure of having all five of them together in the same room.
The youngest, Romina, is a brain cancer survivor. At 5 years old she fought mother fucking brain cancer… and won! She never skipped or missed even one school year, not even when she was a complete vegetable. She lost her right hearing, her balance, her fine motor skills, a certain percentage of her cognitive skills, and had an important nerve damage on her entire right side. She fought, survived, and thrived! She’s an adult today. At 15, she no longer needed a valve implanted in her cranium that helped her blood flow. She diligently submitted herself to therapy so she could learn how to walk, eat and speak again. She has an enormous scar on the back side of her head that impeded her hair growth in that area… yet, she has the most beautiful dark wavy long hair.
Romina is a warrior and will always be respected for that. Despite her story, kids at school bullied her. She was self-conscious about her scars, her lack of hair and her half-way smile. She doesn’t care about any of that now. This photoshoot proves that.
Andrés developed important and long-lasting friendships in Costa Rica, which often became his muses to photograph. Gracias Andre, Andy, Ansel, Blu, Dani C, Ela, Fatjó, Gabo, Glori, Ile, tía Jeannette, John, Kari, Lau, Leo, Lina, Loris, Manu, Miguel, Nicole, Nita, Nubia, Pato, Pri, Rosa, Sam, Santa, Scarlett, Sharifa, Sojo, Vane… y todas las personas que me permitieron fotografiarles en Chepe en los 2010’s. Pura Vida!
Subjects have always felt comfortable being nude around Andrés, even if it means assuming absurd and laughable characters. Andrés grew up in the urban periphery of Guadalupe – a place filled with Latinx Kitsch motifs. Growing up in Latinoamérica often means being exposed to clashing colors, incoherent combinations, campy aesthetics, and a plethora of queerness and saturation. This incoherence has been a common theme in Rangel's social nude experiments.
Andrés E. Rangel earned his Master’s Degree in Photography from Universidad LCI Veritas in 2016. His thesis project, titled "Por No: Problematization of Sexual Miscommunication," included a 248-page research paper and an experimental short film that explored the intersections of Art, Post-Pornography, Post-Feminism, Sexosophy, and Neo-Camp. Below are excerpts from the short film:
Andrés is a voyeur and an ambivert, often finding solace in the background, preferring to go unnoticed. It's in these unobtrusive moments that he captures the essence of those behind-the-scenes, revealing the humans responsible for a production as they fully embrace their element.
Unfortunately, Andrés possesses poor record of his analogue work from the 2010’s. Here’s a minuscule display of some of his 35mm, 120mm and instant shots:
Costa Rica's skies are renowned for their dramatic and voluminous clouds, a sight that has long captivated Rangel's fascination.
