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Photography festivals
We start working with the “Red Eyes” festival and there’s a prize!
11
Mar
Mar
For the last few weeks we have been finalising a collaboration with the Red Eyes Festival as we believe it is very interesting to be able to send you information about the latest photography festivals that are taking place in the country so that you can find out about the latest trends and also if you see it interesting you can present your work, who knows, maybe your work will be selected! Here is an interview with the organizer of the event that will serve as information, so you will be well informed about what is happening at the Red Eyes Festival.
IV International Spanish and Latin American Photography Festival Ojos Rojos. Dénia | Xàbia. From 18th March to 24th April. https://festivalojosrojos.com
Why the name “Red Eyes”?
The name of the festival is the same name of the photography magazine that Mili Sánchez and I used to edit. Ojos Rojos is an effect that all photographers suffered before when using the flash and that was considered a mistake. We think that there are no mistakes in photography and that the so-called mistakes can lead to very interesting projects.
How did the idea of creating the Red Eyes Festival come about?
The two directors of the festival (Mili Sánchez and Mike Steel) are both photographers and lived in Madrid when we published the magazine. As life would have it, we ended up living on the Mediterranean coast, in a town called Jávea, and we had to stop publishing the magazine. We needed to be linked to the world of photography in some way and a photography festival seemed like the best idea. To be able to bring the exhibitions we would like to see to our home. The festival is held in the Marina Alta in Alicante.
What will people find when they visit the festival?
This year the programme of the Ojos Rojos Festival, which changes its dates and now takes place during the months of March and April, is once again based mainly in two urban centres: Dénia and Xàbia, although this year the town of Jesús Pobre has been added as a venue.
To begin with, in Xàbia, Luís Poirot will be showing a series of portraits, a journey through twenty years of a face. Welcome to Espaiñ, by photographer Jordi Bernadó, is a portrait of the Spanish cultural landscape – or, perhaps, of its cultural dump. The portrait of a photographer whose intention is not so much to document what he finds as to expose, with irony and a certain tenderness, the life that lies behind the apparently ordinary.
The photographs of the Chilean Fernanda Larraín illustrate the nature of centenary trees, forests, waters and diverse plants of the central zone of her country, which dialogue with the concepts of landscape, childhood and memory.
Bego Antón shows her work Everybody Loves To ChaChaCha, which tells the story of different women throughout the United States who dance with their dogs.
Sizigia is Pako Pimienta’s proposal, a black and white work that flees from stereotypes and breaks all the rules that are put in front of it.
Another Chilean guest, Paloma Villalobos, presents a selection of photographic images in which she portrays various icebergs that break off from enormous millenary glaciers and float adrift around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Joan Estrader offers something for the little ones. Visual riddles, a selection of photographs that are hieroglyphics. A fun game that shows another side of photography.
The multi-award winning Francisco Ubilla, another Chilean guest, exhibits Rincones Geométricos, a work of street photography that seeks simplicity in urban settings and to show that unnoticed interaction that we have with our surroundings.
In Dénia, Julian Barón exhibits El laberinto mágico, a project based on the historical recreations of episodes of the Spanish Civil War that take place in various locations on the peninsula.
In Los hijos del ciervo, José Luís Carrillo portrays the importance of this totemic animal for the inhabitants of the Alto Tajo. The Royal project, subtitled De los sitios reales y los reales sitios (Of the royal sites and the royal sites), delves into these places of imposing palaces frozen in time, mysterious gardens, corners that smell of intrigue, crowns and bastard children.
In Tributo a la bata Lucía Herrero pays tribute to this garment, and to the woman who wears it, with theatrical photography and lighting that covers the entire oeuvre of this great photographer.
The Chilean Magdalena Correa, with her work La Rinconada, brings us closer to this town where gold mining governs the destinies of its inhabitants.
Finally, and for the first time in Jesús Pobre, we will be able to see the intimate work of Rosa Sala, a work that speaks of loss, memory and the environment.
What are the activities linked to the festival that you would highlight the most?
Apart from the exhibitions that open on 18 March and close on 24 April, there are a large number of parallel activities. Talks, workshops, portfolio viewings, a photo market, and even a treasure hunt for children. You can consult the full programme on https://festivalojosrojos.com/
Tell us about the portfolio viewings
The portfolio viewings started last year. We decided that, since we had the opportunity to see work, most of it unpublished, we could choose one of them to show in the following year’s edition. The viewers are people with prestige in the world of photography:
This year we have Eduardo D’Acosta who is a photographer, researcher, disseminator and teacher specialising in contemporary photography, new photographic trends, uses of the image and authors from the periphery. He has also been a photography teacher for 20 years. He has been a tenured lecturer at the Seville School of Art since 2005, where he teaches “Photography projects” and “Theory of photography”.
Tania Castro, photojournalist, cultural manager, curator, teacher and communicator, will also be present. She is the founder of the photojournalism festival Photon and co-founder of FOC and PHEN.
Jose Luís Carrillo is director of the photography school Mistos and co-director of the Expert Degree in Contemporary Photography at the University of Alicante.
Mili Sánchez and I, photographers, editors and curators, will also be present.
In this edition we are collaborating for the first time with VisualKorner who is sponsoring the viewing. It is a pleasure for us and a great help to the artist who is chosen this year as VisualKorner will help to make their exhibition possible. Do you want more information about the award? Follow us on Instagram, we are posting all the information there!
Where did the link with Ibero-America come from?
Ojos Rojos magazine was created to focus exclusively on auteur photography from Spain and Ibero-America. When we created the festival, we thought it was a way to maintain the identity and prestige of the magazine and to differentiate ourselves from the multitude of big festivals that take place on the peninsula.
Tell us about Chile, this year’s guest country.
Since last year we decided that it was easier to dedicate each edition to one country instead of having guests from different countries. This also helps the viewer to have a more global vision of the photography being done in the guest country. Last year we had Mexico as our guest country (with photographers of the stature of Alejandro Cartagena, José Luís Cuevas and Dulce Pinzón).
This year, the guest country is Chile and we have the luxury of having works by Luis Poirot, Magdalena Correa, Paloma Villalobos and Francisco Ubilla. We have to say that both the Chilean Embassy and the Chile-Spain Foundation have been of great help.
Chile is a diverse country and this can be seen in the photography that we are going to show at the festival.
How can someone take part in or collaborate with Ojos Rojos?
There are several ways to collaborate with Ojos Rojos. One is to become a friend of the festival through the website and enjoy the benefits that come with it. You can also sign up for the events we offer. If you think your work could be shown during the festival, you can contact us. And if anyone has free time and wants to lend a hand in another way, we are open to collaborations.
We look forward to seeing you all at Ojos Rojos!
