In the last two years I have probably photographed more than a thousand houses along the Spanish Costa del Sol. It is my job, I work professionally in real estate photography in the province of Malaga.
In this time I have come across some characters, sometimes peculiar, who lived in some of those homes to which I came. At first, their presence made me uncomfortable as they used to interrupt my work. I lost time trying to dodge their desire to play with me or trying to make them leave the frame of the photo. As these fortuitous meetings were repeated, I thought it could be interesting to allow them to enter my photos and see what the result was.
On the other hand, as the series was completed, I imagined finding the idea or the concept that gave meaning to the set of all the photos. In the beginning I thought to look for a connection between my photos and the phenomenon of real estate speculation, perhaps I could build a criticism with a humorous tone on a topic always hot in any times. I did not get it. Next I thought about associating to these photos the idea that the real owners of those houses are the dogs and cats and not the humans. A dog or a cat never leaves a home, on the contrary, they always return to it.
Finally, in an attempt to find the idea or the concept, I asked some friends for their opinion. A criticism of the consumer society suggested someone, arguing that while some of those cats and dogs inhabit luxury homes, there are now people who live and sleep on the street. Others instead saw in those dogs and cats the representation of their own owners, the person able to sell and leave their own home suggesting a concept of “animalization”.
Today I’m not looking for anything that justifies this series of photographs anymore. I just observe them and feel that in each of them there is something, a gesture, a look, a pose or an attitude that in my opinion leave a door open to free interpretation. Perhaps this is their true and only value and meaning. [Official Website]
