synopsis
Alex Llovet brings us his most documentary-looking work, without losing the poetic and conceptual approach that characterizes him: a project developed over ten years, in the woods surrounding his home.
The forest is the archetype of the wild state, it represents the untamed and as such, it often becomes a place of escape, a refuge in which to hide and maintain anonymity. Because of its darkness and deep rootedness, it also symbolises the unconscious and an ancestral magical space in which to connect with the elemental powers that reside in it and to reconnect with unknown or forgotten parts of our being. In the forest you can escape from society, but not from yourself.
On the outskirts of Barcelona is one of the largest peri-urban parks in the world: the wooded mountain range of Collserola. A place of escape but also a promised land, in the middle of the last century the first settlers arrived here escaping from their places of origin in search of a new opportunity, turning these mountains into a kind of "Catalan farwest". Since then, many have ended up here, including the author, for very different reasons. But they all have something in common: they live among trees, immersed in the forest and in intimate relationship with it, so they have gradually domesticated it, modifying the territory to adapt it to their needs. The fact is that the proximity of the big city makes it easily accessible and therefore vulnerable. But the forest is powerful and has never ceased to exert invisible forces on its inhabitants, leaving its mark on both their homes and their spirit.
The forest is the archetype of the wild state, it represents the untamed and as such, it often becomes a place of escape, a refuge in which to hide and maintain anonymity. Because of its darkness and deep rootedness, it also symbolises the unconscious and an ancestral magical space in which to connect with the elemental powers that reside in it and to reconnect with unknown or forgotten parts of our being. In the forest you can escape from society, but not from yourself.
On the outskirts of Barcelona is one of the largest peri-urban parks in the world: the wooded mountain range of Collserola. A place of escape but also a promised land, in the middle of the last century the first settlers arrived here escaping from their places of origin in search of a new opportunity, turning these mountains into a kind of "Catalan farwest". Since then, many have ended up here, including the author, for very different reasons. But they all have something in common: they live among trees, immersed in the forest and in intimate relationship with it, so they have gradually domesticated it, modifying the territory to adapt it to their needs. The fact is that the proximity of the big city makes it easily accessible and therefore vulnerable. But the forest is powerful and has never ceased to exert invisible forces on its inhabitants, leaving its mark on both their homes and their spirit.
photos of the book
technical information
publisher : Ediciones posibles
2024
156 pages
82 color photos
dimensions : 23 x 31 cm
500 copies
2024
156 pages
82 color photos
dimensions : 23 x 31 cm
500 copies
about Alex Llovet
I had to travel halfway around the world to understand that what I wanted to photograph was around my house. My work revolves around three main themes: identity, the passage of time and the relationship of humans with nature, characterised by the desire to construct a poetic conceptual discourse where I sublimate the everyday to reveal realities beyond appearances, thus questioning the limits between reality and fiction. I am interested in both the taking of images and their reinterpretation through the editing process.
I studied Humanities at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Cinema at the Escola de Cinema Independent de Barcelona (ECIB) and Photography at the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya (IEFC) where I am a teacher now. I also give visual narrative and photobook creation workshops in my studio. I have written and directed various short films, have published a number of photobooks and a novel, and have exhibited my work in many occasions. My work has been awarded in a number of occasions, and is part of public and private collections as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the MNAC collection (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), Banc de Sabadell Foundation, FotoColectania, and the Carmen & Lluís Bassat Foundation, among others. I’m co-founder and editor at Ediciones Posibles, an independent publishing house based in the same city. In 2001 I formed with Salva Rey the musical duo The Pinker Tones, active until 2020, with whom I published numerous albums, books and soundtracks, and toured the five continents playing live.
I studied Humanities at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Cinema at the Escola de Cinema Independent de Barcelona (ECIB) and Photography at the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya (IEFC) where I am a teacher now. I also give visual narrative and photobook creation workshops in my studio. I have written and directed various short films, have published a number of photobooks and a novel, and have exhibited my work in many occasions. My work has been awarded in a number of occasions, and is part of public and private collections as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the MNAC collection (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), Banc de Sabadell Foundation, FotoColectania, and the Carmen & Lluís Bassat Foundation, among others. I’m co-founder and editor at Ediciones Posibles, an independent publishing house based in the same city. In 2001 I formed with Salva Rey the musical duo The Pinker Tones, active until 2020, with whom I published numerous albums, books and soundtracks, and toured the five continents playing live.
- Alex Llovet
find / buy the book
book in my collection
publisher : Ediciones posibles
2024 (1st edition)
500 copies
2024 (1st edition)
500 copies