E•CO: A platform for thought and work around the new strategies of visibility and production in photography.
Curated by Claudi Carreras and presented by internationally acclaimed photographer Xavier Nuez, this exhibit features photographic projects, made by twenty Latin American and European photographic collectives whose works have been commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, under the Spanish Presidency of the European Union and within the celebrations of bicentenary of many Latin countries’ independence. Each collective has received the proposal to raise a visual essay, that reflected its concerns around one of the most important topics of our day: the environment. Free of curatorial influence, the collectives define “environment” for themselves, and maintain their own production and editing processes. The resulting essays reflect the interests and concerns of each group and nation, as well as the working organization of each collective.
With this premise, each group freely chose the topics and locations of their project. Thus, the exhibition is a sample of the most pressing environmental problems, in the countries where the collectives are operating. At the same time, it’s a way to understand the peculiarities of teamwork and its modes of representation.
First in Madrid and later in Soria, E•CO 2010 assembled 20 photographic collectives, from Germany (Ostkreuz), Argentina (Sub.Coop), Brazil (Cia de Foto and Garapa) Costa Rica (Collective Wanderer), France (Odessa, Tendance Floue and Transit ), Italy (TerraProject), Mexico (Mondaphoto), Peru (Supay Photos and Versus-Photo), Portugal (KameraPhoto), UK (Documentography), Venezuela (ONG) and Spain (Blank Paper, NoPhoto, Pandora and Noise Photo) as well as a multinational group that represents photographers from Eastern Europe (East & Ost), that discussed with editors, researchers and other professionals of this media, the problematical and needs of the photographic medium.
From the curator, Claudi Carreras:
Faced with such a wide initial approach, the first challenge was conceptualize the proposal, and try to define an issue that every day becomes more important in our society. The complexity of this subject has been expressed since the initial call, since each country has different definitions of what "Environment" means.
One of the project’s key points is trying not to influence the themes presented and their representation – therefore, the results presented here reflect the interests and concerns that each group wanted to highlight. Formal image post-production as well as editing, are a reflection of each group’s works. It provides a virtual tour that gives the viewer several reading possibilities – on one hand, the one referring to the problems reflected and, on the other, the one reflecting the forms of organization of each collective.
Even though photographic collectives are not a new phenomenon, in recent years they have become particularly relevant. In a situation of mass saturation images and the same communication channels, professional photographers are forced to seek new forms of representation and alternative circuits to make their production visible. The groups provide a platform that reacts to a hostile situation and, on the other side, they are the reflection of a society, in which it is necessary to join efforts to achieve good results.
Claudi Carreras
High res images found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spainartsculture/sets/
This exhibition is part of Spain Arts & Culture 2011, a cultural program that includes more than 100 events all over the US featuring the most cutting-edge works of internationally renowned Spanish artists in fields such as design, urban culture, architecture, visual arts, film, performing arts, literature and music.
Presented in collaboration with SPAIN arts & culture, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperacion, Gobierno de España/Ministerio de Cultura and the Embassy of Spain Washington, Embassy of Spain in Canada, and Spain USA Foundation.
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