Memories Collector

Artist’s Statement

“Memories Collector” is an emotional conceptual photography portrait series shot back in 2010. It was my first project after finishing my college studies in Fine Arts, and I wanted to do something different.

Memories are not physical, and sometimes we keep them stored in objects. We all have little things we have stored for no reason more than the memory we have attached to it. I, personally, have a lot of these, and I keep them as my most precious treasure. I save from myself little toys, concert tickets, random paper notes, used lighters, broken necklaces and so much more. I think that, until some degree, most of us are the same way.

So I wanted to make a fetish out of a fetish: a photograph of hidden treasured hold dearly by random people, both friends and strangers alike. I made a call on social media and the mouth to mouth on the small city I lived in, Murcia (Spain) made wonders, so I managed to gather 15 different people in 5 different sessions in my house. They had to bring an important memento while being sit behind the glass door of my balcony, telling me the story behind it.

The diversity in the stories that were told to me was something to note: There were dead parents, first loves, beloved grandmas, chronic illnesses, travels and so much more. Depending on the information I was given, I started to paint the glass with watercolors, using color that psychologically were related to the feeling I was getting from what the participant was telling me.

It was a cathartic experience for me, and for everyone else, and I am still thankful for that.

Later that year, the series won the accesit prize on the Best Photography category in Creajoven Art Prize (Murcia, Spain) and was exhibited at the gallery Laboratorio de Arte Joven in the same city.

For privacy of the participants, their names and stories are kept a secret. It’s up to you to imagine what kind of tale is hiding behind the glass.

P.S.: Over the years, I have got several comments about the nature of the images, and no, they are not photomanipulations. This is raw photography shot through a painted glass.