Oskar Alvarado

Where Fireflies Unfold

Oskar Alvarado (ES)

“The majority of those born in the cities resulting from rural emigration in the 60s and 70s have a common place that unites us: Our parents’ village. Deleitosa is my village. It is located in the province of Cáceres, in the region of Extremadura in Spain. Here my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and other ancestors were, going back through centuries of family genealogy.” Alvarado

© Oskar Alvarado, Where fireflies unfold 10, 2016

Deleitosa was the village in which Eugene Smith chose to realize his photographic essay Spanish Village that was published in the American magazine Life on April 9, 1951. Far from showing the perceptible appearance of Deleitosa or some of the visual references linked to what was a photographic icon of the social and economic backwardness in Spanish rural society, the author’s gaze had some subjective nuances linked to a series of experiences, places and memories. Reminiscences that have endured as apparitions in his memory. Images that intermingle episodes that float in the collective imagination with the new realities that coexist in the village. There is an emotional need to trust in the evolution of the territory of which we are part. To explore our identity in the echo of the places that still speak to us or in the absence-presence of people and beings that inhabit them. To conform to a visual interpretation that evokes the mystery that manifests itself in everyday rhythms, in the poetic condition that underlies the strange.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

© Oskar Alvarado, Where fireflies unfold 6, 2016

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Oskar Alvarado was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Currently, he resides in Barcelona where the artist combines his work of a photography teacher with the production of his personal works. Oskar holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Basque Country University. From his university, he later received a grant to develop the photographic project Conexiones based in an artist residence in Arteleku Art Center in San Sebastián. The artist’s work has been exhibited in various international festivals such as Voies Off Awards in Arles (France), Solar Photo Festival in Fortaleza (Brazil) or Addis Photo Fest in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). In 2018, Oskar won the first Open Call of Helsinki Photo Festival.

© Oskar Alvarado, Where fireflies unfold 1, 2016