"do not fly so high
little pigeon, little pigeon
because if you leave Navarra
you cannot come back later"
- Navarre "Jota" (folkloric song),
cover from an original of José Iranzo
little pigeon, little pigeon
because if you leave Navarra
you cannot come back later"
- Navarre "Jota" (folkloric song),
cover from an original of José Iranzo
The construction of national identities is a gray area. Political and economic movements create and shape these unreal constructs, depending on the objectives, whether it’s in order to end historical periods and prepare for the future or to reconfigure the county’s position in the international political scene. These new identities (especially in peripheral countries) tend to absorb the paradigms of the hegemonic powers, erasing the popular iconography created by local needs and each country’s own record of history and depriving its people of the symbols that represent the country. They also deny their diversity and are a breeding ground for continuous unrest, conflicts and disappointments.
In Spain, before the economic crisis of 2008, we saw ourselves as an European country which had overcome a harsh dictatorship through an enviable economic growth. When the housing bubble burst and the subsequent political crisis occurred, deep scars and contradictions in the idea we had of ourselves as a nation were exposed. We have become immersed in a new identity crisis. We need to review the Spanish identity, to find other identities that coexist in the microhistories. I photographed the rural areas of this undefined territory, the north of Spain, seeking to radiograph their behavior patterns, beliefs, emotions and local values, since in many occasions these are in conflict with the official narrative.
INFO
Three dummies.
Domestic toner printing. 64 pages each one, 22×16 cm.
2011- photographs. On going project.