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                  [](#)[](#) This is not a cactus. Visual artist Izaac Enciso's debut photo book "Symbols" takes us on a journey through unexpected urban environments, exposing a world of humorous ambiguity. The urban landscape, inadvertently shaped and transformed by its anonymous participants, is the stage for visual artist Izaac Enciso’s debut photo book “Symbols” (Le Roy Publishing). [](http://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1487293237083-WG567Z4ZB86MD2IP57BF/IMG_9156.jpg) Wondering through the streets of Mexican cities and Los Angeles, Enciso photographs lived-places, traces of strangers, and incongruous compositions of common objects. Although the images appear as documentations of transitory encounters, the artist oscillates between the role of spectator and active participant, at times capturing found environments, and at times intervening by creating anonymous sculptures. Most of the subjects in the photographs are inanimate objects, yet the trace of human intervention in the compositions, and the implication of time, bring the images to life. The street becomes the stage for a play between unknown actors and the spontaneous participation of the artist. By combining documentary, found sculpture and active engagement, the Los Angeles based, Mexican-born visual artist exposes a world of humorous ambiguity, where the mundane becomes remarkable and the remarkable becomes mundane. A cactus with Mickey Mouse ears, or a ladder leading to nowhere, exemplify how every-day objects can be charged with meaning, at once poetic and comedic. An image of a broken fence sheds light on the bleak destiny of utilitarian objects that no longer serve a purpose. Through the power of re-contextualization, Izaac Enciso breaks the monotony of the urban environment by giving mundane objects a new purpose and identity: a demonstration of his sensitivity and gratitude towards the lived-in city. [](http://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56c346b607eaa09d9189a870/1487293136897-4X70VHTCI938HEL22IYB/024.jpg) _"Symbols" is available for purchase on the Le Roy Publishing [website](http://shop.leroy.xxx)._ _For more information visit Izaac Enciso’s [website](http://www.izaacenciso.com/)._ Photographs courtesy of Izaac Enciso and Le Roy Publishing.