Photographs allow us to bring memories to the present and, in some cases, to relive certain moments or, in others, to learn more about the history of the past, as if it were a film, a black and white one.
Every country has a history, a past to tell. We cannot live in the past, because if that were to happen, we would lose the present, but we must remember it in order to learn from it.
But also that history is often captured in photographs, and they tell the story of people's lives, their daily lives, experiences, customs, ways of working, places, roads, scenes of life, emotions, joys and more. All this can be captured in photographs.
Many photographers focus their attention on the people, their ways, their faces, customs, clothes and everything else takes a back seat. These photographers are the ones who tell the story graphically, but without speaking. They say that a picture is worth more than words and it is often true, as in this case.
Cristina García Rodero is a photographer who dedicated a large part of her life to capturing the history and past of Spain in images, travelling through it in its entirety, observing the people rather than the surroundings.
This particular exhibition shows more than fifteen years of intense and dedicated work of this woman who can tell the story through her photos. It was interesting to be able to look at each one of them and thus go back and get to know the history of this country, but not through what the books tell us, but by seeing the faces of the people, their beliefs, their day to day life.
On the walls were written some sentences that expressed the artist's opinion.
"They are documentary photographs about very defined aspects of Spanish life, because Cristina García Rodero focuses more on life than on landscapes and environments. These serve only as background or backdrop. For her, what is important are the human beings, their beliefs, their festivals and activities in a popular and traditional framework". Julio Caro Baroja, 1989.
That person is definitely right, I could see how they celebrated Easter at that time, or how they buried their dead, I could see the carnival festivities in the streets and the businesses that existed. I could see the work in the fields, in great detail. I could see the rituals and customs, such as bullfighting, fairs and more.
"Photography is a language that redeems the past from oblivion by preserving the vast edifice of memory. Had it not been for Cristina García Rodero, hundreds of Iberia's festivals and rites would have vanished forever. Cristina is, above all, a fabulous storyteller who has been able to record in an impetuous and fervent way the pulsions of the body and soul of popular Spain. She is one of those who believe that without passion there is no creation. She is only interested in talking about life, about how difficult, tragic and beautiful it can be". Publio López Mondéjar, 2024.
Cristina really had a lot of passion for this great work in the form of a documentary because capturing gestures on the faces of children and adults that tell emotions can't be done by everyone, at least that's what I think.
The theme that I saw most represented was the religious theme, devotion, festivals, pilgrimages, the clothes that were worn, but also everything that has to do with the church, going to church and all that it meant. Traditions of the people of fifty years ago, a hard history, too hard, and I think that all this is graphically shown through this marvellous work done with so much passion.
Finally, another piece of writing read as follows:
"That way of always returning to the same festivals or rituals, secretly fearing that the following year they would no longer exist, to try to select the best, the most synthetic. In these constant returns, in addition to the desire to do better, there is undoubtedly also the desire to understand more deeply the resources and workings of the human soul, to identify these contradictions or confrontations between the religious and the pagan, the city and the countryside, the material and the supernatural, between opposing elements, between life and death". Chirstian Caujolle.
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These photographs reveal these opposing meanings and above all the theme not only of religion but also of death and the relationship with it. This artist, because for me she is a true artist, manages to enter into people's souls, to see from the camera lens the soul in people's eyes and the mood on their faces, whatever the activity they were doing.
It was a show worth seeing and talking about, to keep the story alive and Cristina has achieved that with her passion for Spain, its history and its people.
Thank you very much for watching and reading this far, I wish you a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
