LA CULTURA MALLORCA THROUGH AN ARTIST’S EYE

GERMAN photographer and artist Patrick Morarescu brought his keen eye to Mallorca five years ago.

A successful documentary and portrait artist, he attended photography school in Munich in search of a way to unleash his artist’s soul. He also dabbled in poetry too.

The forty-nine-yearold has spent these years snapping the heart of Mallorca, unobtrusively capturing what he observes.

He explained his craft to the Olive Press: “I think artists shouldn't draw too many connections themselves.”

“We’re just doing something because we feel like it. It's for the viewer to draw the connections.”

Find more of his work at www. morarescu.de

Canyamel, 2019

A somewhat scathing and comical indictment of Mallorquin tourism, the photograph shows a giant hydraulic digger dredging sand among a packed beach of holidaymakers. Not forgetting the two snorkelling kids, who are the nominal subject of the photo.

Festa del Sequer, Lloret de Vistalegre, 2018

This striking nun had journeyed all the way from Tenerife to take part in the Festa de Sequer in Lloret de Vistalegre, held on the first Sat- urday of every Sep- tember. A festival in honour of the fig, grown locally in the village.

Plaza de Toros, Inca, 2021

At the Plaza de Toros in Inca, 2021, Patrick discovered the famed cape, known as a capote, worn by the matadors. “I didn’t know anything about bullfighting at the time. I just took the capote there and found that, because it’s so heavy, it could stand on its own like there’s a ghost. Like there was a ghost in the stadium.”

Atirofijo Circ at Eimar Festival, Maria de la Salut, 2019

Artists Guillem Vizcaino and Mari Paz Arango standing in a field at the Eimar Festival in August caught Patrick’s eye.

“There was a light sunset and I really liked the difference, the contrast of shapes. And so I took the photo.”

Magaluf, 2021

Part of Patrik’s ‘The sun will shine again tomorrow’ collection inspired by the barren lockdown period where human activity diminished to less than a crawl. Taken at tourist hotspot Magaluf in 2021, it shows a tiny person in between the jaws of a shark. But as an artist, Patrick refused to be drawn on its deeper symbolic meaning.

Son Bugadelles, 2018

This woman and her remarkable leather skin with tight crease lines pulled over her unusually taut muscles was manning a stall at a flea market when she caught Patrick’s roving eye. “She was a good character. I asked to take a photo and then I went off.”

Playa de Palma, 2021

The woman in pink was from Germany. She told Patrick how much she loved to travel around, and she was in Mallorca visiting her son. He is the one with the kite in the background, getting ready to go out on the sea.

Can Pastilla, 2021

This picture of kitesurfers hit the press all around the world during a time still traumatised by Covid. “It was a mood at the time, when they were reopening Mallorca,” he explained.

“If there is a lot of wind in Mallorca,” he added, “then you see the skies full of kites.”

Palmanova, 2021

Patrick recounted the period just after lockdown, when the island was still shellshocked and the world outside our apartments still daunting. “I started to just go out and take pictures of what I was seeing, and the feeling happening then on the beaches. Because they were half empty - or very empty.”