You can see one of those sites here: http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?mode=user&uid=15022&offset=0
These shots are posted seemingly at random, and drift over the last 20 years or so. Perhaps we meet them as Paco sees them in his mind, as memories that drift by now and then. When we look back over two decades of our lives the images do tend to run together, so these images have been assembled here without worry as to when they were taken. It becomes clear that each has its place as you read the captions.
Ferrer is a chronicler of his own world, the apartments, streets, tenements and squats of Valencia, Spain. With the many shots of brothel workers, it is tempting to compare him to Bellocq and his photographs of the Storyville bordellos of New Orleans, or to Brassai and his nighttime photographs of the Paris netherworld of bars and alleyways. Tempting, but Ferrer's photos have a much different feel about them. These are not voyeuristic excursions into some other world by a detached observer. Paco is fully present in each of these images. In fact he's often physically present, peeking back at himself from a mirror, or in one case (I Put my Hand in It), simply sticking his arm into the frame. He reveals a tremendous gentleness about his subjects, these photos are not exploitative at all. The captions that he provides show a depth of sympathy and empathy even though they read quite dispassionately. In the almost clinical description of "The Specter of Former Self" or "Julia" you can't help but be moved.
Occasionally Ferrer can get quite detailed in his captions, in "Self Portrait with Julia" he makes his feelings about his subject clearly known. But why is he there naked in the shot? Is the tone of the caption wrong? Is he in fact exploiting this young woman, just like any of her other customers? Can one photograph any person, including oneself, without exploitation? The reader may decide this question for himself.
These captions are fascinating. Ferrer is an accomplished storyteller in words as well as images, as illustrated by "sleeping beauty", which shows a friend posing in a simple costume. He also has a wonderful way of telling a whole story in one sentence, in "The Smile" one of his Red Light District photos he says "She's very sweet but her boyriend is terribly jealous." There are worlds of information in those 9 words.
His photographs can become quite surreal at times, with his love of mirrors and his close interaction with the models as in "The Hunted Hunter". His fascination with mirrors extends beyond the surface of the image and begins to intrude into our own world, "Stereo PAIR" requires us to use a mirror to view it. Paco of course provides instructions in the caption.
Sometimes the story is simply hilarious, as in "The Pimple".
Ferrer's earlier work is quite spare, black and white portraits in simple settings. His later work seems to be more thoughtful, more staged, and the photographer appears to be getting into the shot more often. Does this mean our friend Paco is becoming more complex, or more interested in preserving his own visage, documenting his own life as he gets older?
Perhaps we should not over-analyse this and instead let him tell his own story.
-Kim Taylor 2005
-1984- ME as A Young Man: While my model was about her natural business behind a bush I had a couple of shots at myself.