The bodyguard’s hands

I am fascinated by hands. In fact, I probably always have been, but since I tend to be late with most things, it’s only now that I truly understand just how much. In art, I have certainly analyzed the hand's significance as a symbol of generosity, social status, power, and strength. And yes, you can get to know a person simply by studying their hands. But a hand is so much more than that.

The bodyguard’s hands were beautiful and confident. I thought his hands were incredibly sexy, his entire personality was there. A few hours before he died, we rested for a while after lunch, and I held his hand. I remember thinking how cold his fingers were. I didn’t understand then what I understand now: the hand knows more than the brain.

The poet and artist Patricio Reig’s visual world also includes various series of photographs of hands. Photographs that he brings to life again through his way of working with the paper, with the entire photographic process. Something emerges there, like intimate memory fragments of events.

Have you ever thought about how many expressions we have that involve hands? Reaching out a hand, shaking hands, giving a hand, pointing with the whole hand... or phrases like “hand on heart,” “all thumbs,” “to have free hands.” I can’t think of any other body part that gets the same attention, well, maybe one.

When my mother passed away, my daughter took a photo of her hand in hers. A picture that is moving in many ways, an expression of the passage of life and human experience, from youth to old age. The act of passing something on. According to Aristotle, the hand is “the tool of tools,” and indeed, he was right.

So while we place all our trust in the brain, the hand walks silently beside us.

 Patricio Reig, En magia, Papeles de Milán