They justify their role as women but like women describing the world. From emotions and fear. But mostly since Responsibility for converting the photo into a document a reality that they always stay in the background. For this reason close enoughThe Magnum agency’s first exhibition in Alicante is more than a feminist, vengeful and also witness to give visibility to the woman behind the lens but also to review her role in front of it.
In the exhibition that Generalitat opened its new headquarters in the historical Post Office building, twelve out of thirteen women currently part of the famous photo agency headed by Cristina de Middel from Alicante.
«Having the opportunity to present my work with all my colleagues at Magnum in Alicante, where I was born, lived and worked, is touching so many pieces of sentimentality inside of me», reassured during the presentation, «When I was 10 years old I used to come to this post office to send a telex with my father.»
An emotional charge, especially with the added ‘satisfaction of some attention to women’s creative work’ Magnum 75 acres and very distinct with a very documentary perception, very war man and that women’s work, which has also documented the world many times over, is not seen at the forefront».
emotional intimacy
The title of the exhibition responds to the saying of Robert Capa, the creator of this agency, that the reason a photo isn’t good enough is because you’re not close enough. From this idea, you twelve photographers from different generations, from different cultural backgrounds» With an approach that “questions the idea of the Anchor from the beginning”, they make suggestions ranging from the most intimate to the chronicle of the war from Russian soil.emotional closeness and emotional intimacy, Accompanied by Pere Rostoll, managing director of Information Relations, the National Photo Award winner has a greater responsibility when it comes to documenting the world,” he assures.
direct exposure From the International Center of Photography in New York, where it is exhibited for the first time, it also shows a very different way of presenting the photograph, so that each of the authors presents it at the same time. An artistic proposal with the assembly. “Almost all of the participating women not only document photographs in their books, but also hold exhibitions. photography moves to another format with enormous possibilities to find the best way to deliver the message.”
The bond that unites these twelve photographers is this: “We are all aware that the way women are represented in photography needs to change. not only as an object of the image, but also as an author, As the woman goes to war, she moves away from that weak image. It’s about stopping stereotyping women in and out of photography and normalizing that we do everything and, above all, express ourselves. And we’re good at that too.”
twelve names, twelve looks
There are twelve worldviews (both of the person and of the world) that this exhibition demonstrates. Alessandra Sanguinetti It has been following the lives of two girls on a farm in the Pampas, Argentina since 1998. Nana Heitman De Middel, half-Russian and half-German, documented the war from Russia, where they “lived in a reality entirely different from ours.”
For Myriam BoulosThe Lebanese is not afraid of his generation’s body or image and portrays another reality of Beirut with “a bit disrespectful in such a classical society” themes.
have Christina of Middel Look at the issue of prostitution from another angle. gentleman club, Interviewing men who pay to have a relationship. “Visually, prostitution is always depicted with images of women, we didn’t paint the other half,” she says. He placed an ad in the communications section of a Rio de Janeiro newspaper, and men began searching for him to share their experiences. It stretched like this ten different cities and the project took seven years. conclusion 100 photos collected in a photo book that depicts these consumers and collects their testimonials. “I paid them all to interview them, like a game of reversals; we’d go to the room, take pictures and interview them, they’d give their consent, and then I’d pay them, I’d go, and they’d hold the ticket.”
Olivia Arthur, After she became pregnant, she began working on how her body could become a machine and “worked on its connection to the body and its limitations.”
Carolyn DrakeAfter reporting on the crises in the Middle East, he decided to look at his country, the USA, and paint his problems without “imposing his vision on the camera” through joint projects.
Susan Meisela In her photographs, she collects “hard images” of shelters for battered women in the British mining basin; while in Turkish Sabiha Grass It offers another perspective comparing the experience of an Islamic woman in a Koranic school with the experience of new generations.
Persian Yenisha Tavakolyan she shows a video in which she expresses in pictures her feelings when she suffers from premenstrual syndrome. Bieke Warehouse Manager she collects her experiences in many countries where she has to find someone to let her sleep at home every day. A few years later he wondered if the Egyptian people really liked it and took him to the areas where he was making the book so that people could comment on the pictures.
Photographing someone complimenting her is Hanna Price’s job with portraits that “provoke photographic interest, not incrimination.” lua ribeiraShowing Agonia en el jardín his project “On the impact of traps and drills in Spain” in the room. He states that the important thing is to “see how content, sound and aesthetics relate to structural instability.”
“Whoever wants to ask himself questions, ponder over the images that bombard us every day, come here and maybe find answers or maybe more specific questions.” Christina of Middel.
The exhibition will be in Alicante until next july It can be visited between 17:00-20:00 on weekdays; 10:00 – 14:00 and 17:00 – 20:00 on Saturdays and 10:00 – 14:00 on Sundays
Three exhibitions and a deal for the future
It includes three exhibitions. Agreement between Generalitat and Magnum, In the words of the General Manager of Information Relations, “We want it to continue with new projects next year”, Father Rostoll. It is the first of three examples to be seen in the Community in Alicante; the second focuses Robert Capa’s work and Valencia opens at the end of the month and the third, Cristina García Rodero, De Middel and Lua Ribera in Castello.