Photographs often reveal more than just a landscape, a building or people; they convey an entire philosophical concept, and so there is much more to a photograph than meets the eye.
On the very same day that I visited the El Ateneo gallery, which was hosting two wonderful exhibitions, just a few steps away at the gallery of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, another spectacular photography exhibition was waiting for me. On this occasion, it was by someone I knew only by name, and only because the city’s railway station bears her name: María Zambrano. But I knew very little about her. And through this exhibition, I was able to get to know her much better, particularly to understand what her eyes had seen at a particular moment and many of her thoughts and philosophy.
The exhibition centres on a travel album documenting her trip to Greece in 1972. Of course, there was always a guide on hand, as well as plenty of information about what was on display – this is always welcome to help better understand what one is seeing and to get to know the artist or photographer better.
It is, therefore, documentary photography from a spectacular trip to Greece, where each shot captures the experiences of María Zambrano, a renowned Spanish philosopher and thinker. All the photographs came from a private album that was preserved for many years by her foundation in Vélez-Málaga.
“It is precisely this connection, this communion, that was revealed at Eleusis. Not a mere analogy between human life and the life of nature, a parallelism, but a unity within the total order unfolding across the three realms” (María Zambrano, Man and the Divine)
That year, María visited the main archaeological sites in various Greek cities, such as Athens, Delphi, Eleusis and Sounion. It had always been her dream to be there, ever since she was young, and she was finally able to fulfil that great dream. What prompted that trip was the death of her sister; she wanted and needed to experience for herself that atmosphere about which so much was said; she needed to see those places for herself, as if there were revelations or something similar to be found there.
Looking at the photographs, I understood that, given that the roots of philosophy and the thoughts of so many famous figures in history lie there, she had that need; perhaps she found that special energy, and I also believe it was a spectacular experience. Like all documentary photography, especially that of a journey, every scene carries a great emotional weight, of experiences that, of course, only she can understand, but which are somehow conveyed when you look at them.
Athens
“And so, all of reality, circumstances in their entirety, took shape as a centre and a periphery. The centre is the place of the sacred, illuminated by sacrifice. The horizon will be its ultimate reward. Lord of the Horizon, the Egyptians called their god at the clearest hour of their history” (María Zambrano, Man and the Divine)
María Zambrano is the author of the 1955 book El hombre y lo divino (Man and the Divine), but she herself has stated that she felt the book was missing something, which was completed when she returned from her great journey. It was there that she was able to finish writing it, thanks to those experiences.
Sounion
“The destroyed temple, evidently the Greek temple, appears enveloped by time, by its own. It, its precincts, and that which from it becomes invisible, are lodged within a shaping time that has folded itself around it, around its being, freeing it from the fatigue of existing, of rising up, of receiving without the presence of its god” (María Zambrano, Man and the Divine)
Throughout her journey, she thought of her sister, and she herself remarked that the harmony with the temples is perfect; thus, the horizon becomes a temple and one feels as though they are at the centre of the world. These words of María reveal her emotions during that journey and the great sensitivity she displayed at that time. I felt a sense of longing because her sister was not with her to enjoy that journey, but in a way, she felt her sister was there with her.
Delphi
“The knowledge demanded at Delphi would have to be a transcendent knowledge of the highest order, even more so than Aristotelian knowledge in principle, for it is a matter of knowing oneself, of complete reflection, of complete transparency” (María Zambrano, Man and the Divine)
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On one of the walls there was a phrase that read: “And so the abyss, my abyss of pain, was humbly presented to the purest light my eyes have ever seen in this world.” It is an excerpt from a letter she wrote on 17 July 1972. Truly, beautiful words, deeply felt.
It’s a great exhibition that I’ve loved above all because it brought back vivid memories of my secondary school studies on thinkers, philosophers and many of their teachings, which I later applied to my self-discovery. The photographs are truly wonderful, especially as they feature those sepia tones that I love so much.
Thank you very much for joining me today; I wish you all a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
