Today I'm presenting a very special post for me. While some claim there's no objective measure of a work of art (a view I completely disagree with), on this occasion, I confess that subjectivity overwhelms me. You'll understand these lines I've written here later.

 Before continuing, I must mention someone, a wonderful person, whom I met on Hive. We've spoken on several occasions about the Madrid where I grew up and which shaped me into who I am today. A Madrid surrounded by red poppies and thistle flowers.

 That Hivier I'm referring to is Hive account@palomap3, and this visit to one of Madrid's leading art centers is especially dedicated to her.

Like a mobile eye, Campano roams the city without documentary intent, discovering a poetic order in its fragments.
PHotoEspaña 2024 (Community of Madrid)

[Como un ojo móvil, Campano recorre la ciudad sin intención documental, descubriendo en sus fragmentos un orden poético.
PHotoEspaña 2024 (Comunidad de Madrid)]

 Between June 11 and September 8, 2024, 90 unpublished photographs by Javier Campano (1950-) were exhibited at the El Águila cultural center (Madrid), capturing the Madrid I knew as a child.

 I arrived in this great city in 1976. I came with my parents, who were born in Madrid in the 1950s but were forced to migrate for economic reasons. Upon our return, we found a Madrid that was very different from other European cities... A Madrid far removed from the tourist image of the Prado Museum or the Puerta del Sol.

 The title Barrios (Neighborhoods) of this exhibition refers to the suburbs of Madrid that grew as a result of the rural exodus during the years of “developmentalism.” An exodus of millions of Spaniards who, attracted by industrial development, migrated during the 1960s and 1970s to the large industrial centers: Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, etc.

 Suburban neighborhoods saw their populations multiply with the arrival of these new residents... neighborhoods that grew without some of the most basic services that are now part of everyday life: health centers, schools, water, electricity, paved roads, sewage systems...

 A Madrid where a donkey pulling a cart or stray dogs were a common sight in everyday life.

 It was also a Madrid of solidarity, not only because of the development of the first neighborhood movements, but also because of the solidarity among neighbors. Javier Campano says of these conquerors of new spaces:

I was impressed by the dignity with which they led such a hard life [the neighbors] and how they asserted their rights by forming associations and demonstrating.

 This collection of photographs is a testimony to the urban transition of that Madrid. A transition that went from shanty towns, low-rise houses, and substandard housing to the first emergency urban planning schemes and the reorganization of these neighborhoods.

 These photographs take us to that belt of poverty and dreams that grew around an urban center oblivious to the problems of those peripheral residents. To neighborhoods such as Tetuán, El Pilar, Orcasitas, Entrevías... 90 images (here is only a selection of these) that go beyond the urban landscape, immortalizing the lives of those residents.

 Javier Campano's photography can be considered street photography. It is the work of a photographer who, camera in hand, hunts for images as he strolls through the urban landscape. But what I find most striking about his work is the respect he shows for the people he photographs.

 The Barrio and its people are often viewed with sensationalism, and I would say with a certain elitism completely unjustified: serious criminals do not live in the Barrio, never have and never will.

 Campano's gaze also does not show, thankfully, that pity for the poor that is so present in some “progressive” or “humanitarian” narratives.

 In contrast to these superficial views, Javier Campano shows us the dignity of life in the Barrio, the pride of being who you are:

It is admirable to see that, against all odds, people adapted to what they had and made use of the little they had. Children played in the mud, the elderly sat in chairs in the sun among the rubble, growing vegetables on a piece of land at the entrance to their homes or raising ducks and even goats.

 I hope you enjoy this stroll through the nostalgia of a Madrid that no longer exists (or exists in other forms).

Text sources:

Campano, J. (2024). Barrios. Madrid 1976-1980. Madrid: Departamento de Cultura, Turismo, y Deporte - Comunidad de Madrid / La Fábrica. ISBN 978-84-10-02420-5.