Basque rural sports have their origin in the rural occupations. They are allrooted in the
traditional lifestyles of the Basque people.
There are 18 official sports plus around 20 other modalities.
I am attracted by “The origins of sport”. By watching these men
and women performing one can easily imagine how an entertainment at the end of a working
day can get transformed into a tradition.
In this series I give special importance to the “training spaces” that are impregnated by
a clandestine atmosphere if we compare them with the official Olympic games. They exercise
in garages, forest, public spaces…
The identity of a people is reflected in these practices. Some games are endangered of
extinction and others are really popular. Winners receive a basque beret (txapela) as a
trophy. Txapela comes from “champion” in Basque language.
Some sports are: Stone lifting, wood chopping, bale lifting, tug-of-war, sack carrying,
bowls, oxen stone-dragging.
I was trained in architecture, photography and physical theatre. This shaped my vision as an artist.
I´ve won international prizes and exhibited internationally
I developed an approach to documentary photography called by me Antropología Fantástica (Magic Realism). Part documentary, part fantasy – I research new ways photographic storytelling. I create photo-events in which the actors interpret themselves.
My subjects are part of the real world and part of a larger, imaginative world based on collective memory, history, and community. Each picture is larger than what meets the eye.
Awards 2010 SFR Jeunes Talents. Rencontres d’Arles official program (France)
2010 SFR Grand Prix 2010, finalist (Paris)
2010 Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña, finalist (Madrid)
2010 Photomeeting Ojo de Pez, 10 best portfolios (Barcelona)
2010 Month of Photography Bratislava, 15 best portfolios (Bratislava)
2010 SFR MAP10, finalist (France)
2010 SCOOP Photojournalism Festival, finalist (France)
2010 Viewbook Photostory contest, honorable mention
2010 PixMo award, La Laboral centre of Art of Gijon, Spain, first prize (Spain)
2011 Sony awards, Photojournalism and documentary-People, third prize (London)
2011 Le Prix Exchange of Boutographies (Montpellier)
2011 Prix Coup de Coeur Rencontres d’Arles portfolios (Arles)
2011 IPA, International Photography Awards, first prize “Book/People”, third prize “Nature”, 2 honorable mentions.
2011 Lensculture International Exposure Award, honorable mention (contemporary photography network, Amsterdam)
2011 Thecolorawards, nominated in 3 categories
2011 Kyosato Museum of Photographic arts-KMOPA, Portfolio acquisition (Japan)
2011 International Loupe Awards, silver and bronze awards
2011 The Terry O’Neill Award, third prize
2012 Critical Mass, finalist
2012 Art residency at Halsnoy Kloster, (Halsnoy, Norway)
2012 Coup de Coueur ANI at Visa pour l’image (Perpignan)
2012 PDN's 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch, nominated
2013 Grand Prix Fotofestiwal 2013, finalist (Łódź,Poland)
2013 Selected Participant in Review Santa (Fe Santa Fe,USA)
2013 IPA, first prize, three honorable mentions
2018 Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards, Grand Prize, “Reindeer Man” Malaysia)
2018 Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards finalist, “Tribes” (Malaysia)
2018 LensCulture Street Photography Awards, Jury’s choice prize, “Tribes” (Amsterdam)
2018 PX3, portrait art & documentary,gold, silver and bronze awards (Paris)
2018 One Eyeland, fashion-documentary selected 10 Spain “Tribute to bata” (USA)
2018 AFAR’s Travel Photo Awawards, juror prize "Tribes"
