The Questionnaire : Ruben Tomas by Carole Schmitz

Ruben Tomas : Symbiosis

He is one of those rare artists who do not capture the world, they listen to it.
Ruben Tomas belongs to that unique group of photographers who do not chase images but encounter them, in silence, waiting, for the subtle vibration between what is seen and what is felt. Born in Valencia and shaped by a cosmopolitan path that led him through Spain, France, Italy, the United States, and Brazil, he carries within him a language without borders the language of the gaze that connects. A former actor and model, he has forgotten nothing of the body, the breath, or the rhythm  and now, with a Canon 5D Mark III in hand, he records not so much a scene as a tremor of the real.

Against the tide of the spectacular and the instantaneous, Ruben Tomas composes images that breathe. He works as one meditates: with extreme focus and unwavering trust in intuition. His photographs don’t impose themselves they seep in. They move us not through what they show, but through what they withhold, an absence, a solitude, perhaps a form of inner peace. In his series Symbiosis, exhibited in New York in 2025, the artist explores with rare grace the intertwining of worlds: humans and animals share the frame, not as objects of mutual fascination, but as equals, linked by a shared energy. These are not staged scenes they are epiphanies.

For Ruben Tomas, nature is never a backdrop it is a character. Water, stone, vegetation become active partners in the photographic gesture. The human figure either merges with or resists them, but always with radical humility. His universe is built on silent contrasts: strength and fragility, beauty and gravity, control and surrender. What unites his body of work is a kind of raw, almost spiritual truth that transcends both fashion and reportage. It’s not about seduction, even less about persuasion, it’s about feeling, deeply, what it means to be here.

Ruben Tomas does not illustrate the world he reveals its invisible part. His images are visual ellipses, suspended moments of eternity between two heartbeats. And perhaps it is there in that tension between stillness and movement that we must seek the singular force of his work: a photography of the soul, anchored in the body.

Website : www.rubentomas.com
Instagram : @ruben_tomas
Currently: Symbiosis, on view at Picto New York in Brooklyn. The exhibition runs through September 5, 2025.
www.pictony.com

Your first photographic trigger?
Ruben Tomas: A moment of stillness. I was alone in nature, the light was soft, the silence thick. I felt something I couldn’t explain, but I knew I had to hold onto it. That’s when I picked up the camera.

The man or woman of image who inspired you?
Ruben Tomas: Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus, and Sophie Calle.
They each revealed intimacy and vulnerability with honesty. Their images feel like confessions, deeply personal and fearless.

The image you wish you had taken?
Ruben Tomas:“Afghan Girl” by Steve McCurry. Her eyes carry the weight of a thousand lives.

The one that moved you the most?
Ruben Tomas: Richard Avedon’s portrait of his dying father. It’s painfully human. Brave and tender.

And the one that made you angry?
Ruben Tomas: Any image that exploits suffering without respect or dignity behind the lens.

And which photo changed your world?
Ruben Tomas: “The Falling Man” from 9/11. It captured the unbearable weight of a single human life in the middle of tragedy. It made the world stop, not just to witness, but to feel. It’s an image that reminds us how fragile, and precious, we all are.

What makes a photo memorable? And what makes an image timeless?
Ruben Tomas: Emotion. If it stirs something inside us, it stays.
A timeless image speaks beyond its time, it’s not about trend or perfection; it’s about truth

Can technique ever outweigh emotion in photography?
Ruben Tomas: Technique can enhance emotion, but it can’t replace it. What stays with us is how a photo makes us feel, not how perfect it is. Emotion is the soul, technique is just the frame.

What elements help make silence visible in a photo?
Ruben Tomas: Space, light, and restraint. When you don’t force the image, silence enters. It’s something you feel more than see.

Does the uniqueness of a photo come from the moment or the staging?
Ruben Tomas: Both can create something unique. But for me, it’s often the moment, the feeling, the energy. That can’t be faked.

What interests you most in an image?
Ruben Tomas: In a portrait, what’s happening in the eyes of the person.
In nature, the angles and movements of the subject—the way a tree leans, a bird pauses, a wave folds.

What is the last photo you took?
Ruben Tomas: The facades of buildings in New York City. I was walking with no plan, and the light hit the architecture in a way that made everything feel cinematic. Ordinary walls suddenly felt alive.

A key image in your personal pantheon?
Ruben Tomas: One of my diptychs from Symbiosis. A human figure and a shark, two different beings, same spirit.

A photographic memory from your childhood?
Ruben Tomas: Horses running up a hill in the north of Spain. Dust, light, motion, freedom.

In your opinion, what is the necessary quality to be a good photographer?
Ruben Tomas: Follow your instincts, find your visual language, and understand light.

Who would you like to photograph?
Ruben Tomas: Tilda Swinton. Cate Blanchett. Artists who carry mystery and depth in their presence.

An essential photo book?
Ruben Tomas: Blind by Sophie Calle

The camera from your childhood?
Ruben Tomas: A Polaroid.

The one you use today?
Ruben Tomas: Canon 5D Mark III.

An upcoming project that is close to your heart?
Ruben Tomas: A residency and exhibition in Sardinia with Fondazione MACC. I’ll be photographing Mediterranean life and traditions, a new chapter in my exploration of human and nature symbiosis.

Your favorite addiction?
Ruben Tomas: Fitness.

The best way for you to disconnect?
Ruben Tomas: Nature.

What is your personal relationship with the image?
Ruben Tomas: Images represent moments in my life, times I was either struggling or in deep stillness. They carry my truth.

By whom would you like or would you have liked to be photographed?
Ruben Tomas: Richard Avedon.

Your latest folly?
Ruben Tomas: Printing a four-part piece nearly my own height for a collector in the Hamptons. It was wild, and worth it.

An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Ruben Tomas: A human figure and an animal, side by side, still, equal framed by nature. A reminder that true value lies in our connection with the living world.

Color or black and white?
Ruben Tomas: Black and white.

Daylight or studio light?
Ruben Tomas: Depends on the subject, but I feel very comfortable in the studio, as I can play with lights.

What, in your opinion, is the most photogenic city?
Ruben Tomas: Rio de Janeiro. It’s spectacular everywhere you look.

If God existed, would you ask him to pose for you or opt for a selfie with him?
Ruben Tomas: I’d love to photograph him naturally, in silence.

In terms of social networks, are you more Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Twitter and why?
Ruben Tomas: Instagram. It’s visual, fast, and intimate.

Do you think the explosion of social networks has changed our relationship with the image?
Ruben Tomas: Yes, definitely. Now it’s so accessible, sometimes overwhelming. We see more but feel less.

What does photography represent in your creative universe?
Ruben Tomas: It’s the way I process life. It’s memory, poetry, presence.

What is the purpose of art, in your opinion?
Ruben Tomas: To make us feel, think, imagine. Art opens emotional and intellectual doors

The job you would not have liked to do?
Ruben Tomas: Anything repetitive without creativity.

Your greatest professional extravagance?
Ruben Tomas: Spending a month in Namibia, chasing light across deserts and silence. Just me, my camera, and the need to feel something real, no agenda, just instinct.

What question could make you lose your temper?
Ruben Tomas: When someone asks if I “just click a button.”

And the question you wish someone would ask you but never has?
Ruben Tomas: What did you need to let go of to take this photo?

What is the last thing you did for the first time?
Ruben Tomas: Climbed a sand dune at night with my camera and no plan. I listened to the wind and let it guide me.

The city, country, or culture you dream of discovering?
Ruben Tomas: Ethiopia.

The place you never get tired of ?
Ruben Tomas: The Namib Desert.

Your biggest regret?
Ruben Tomas: Not trusting myself sooner.

If I could organize your ideal dinner, who would be at the table?
Ruben Tomas: Sophie Calle, Irving Penn, and Franz Kline. I’d just listen—curious to hear how they see, feel, and create.

In your opinion, what is missing in today’s world?
Ruben Tomas: Presence. We need to stop and truly see each other again.

If you had to start all over again?
Ruben Tomas: I would. Maybe I’d begin with painting.

Afterward, what would you like people to say about you?
Ruben Tomas: That I created from my soul and stayed true to it.

The one thing people must absolutely know about you?
Ruben Tomas: Everything I photograph, I’ve felt first.

A final word?
Ruben Tomas: Gratitude. For the light, the silence, and every connection along the way.