The fishing houses of Malaga.
It is not the first time that we meet a photographic project that brings us back to reality, that puts our feet on the ground and focuses our gaze on our country, back to our roots.
They automatically come to mind those usual bars , with good gastronomic proposals and little posture, which inevitably close their doors due to new fashions, those small businesses that after years of struggle cannot face the abusive rents of the big cities focused on mass tourism.
How to forget the works of Madrid's No Frills Bars, the vital project of the journalist Leah who struggles to remind us charismatic places that are pulling the shutters like El Palentino , either 'Graphic of the Rambles' , the book by Louise Fili that rescues Barcelona's modernist and art nouveau facades, stained glass windows, mosaics, etc. from oblivion.
Authenticity.
Now it's Malaga's turn , of the fishing districts of the Pedregalejo and Palo . Until there traveled the Austrian artist Katharine Fitz in 2015 when she was awarded an artistic scholarship called 'Creators', organized by 'La Térmica' of Malaga.
“For four months she had to carry out a specific project that was presented to the public. Through several conversations with local people about the changes and the architecture of the city, they recommended me to go see the old fishing neighborhoods of Pedregalejo and El Palo”, Katharina tells Traveler.es.
She who had always been interested in sociocultural and urban themes She decided to immerse herself in the ins and outs of the Malaga neighborhoods of a lifetime, photographing what she best defines us: our homes.
“I went and found these beautiful houses with their unique character and history. Over the years, the area around the neighborhoods has become an attractive area for tourism . Today Pedregalejo and El Palo are an interesting mix between a long seafaring tradition and chic neighborhood . This contrast between tradition and tourist artificiality has especially inspired me when carrying out the project. On the one hand the transformation has diminished the values of community cohesion within the old fishing districts, but on the other hand the change has contributed a lot to the economic development of the area ”, she adds.
This is how ‘Málaga- Paracosmic Houses’ came about, a project that rescues cultural heritage and that visualizes each house as an individual so that we do not lose sight of any detail.
“In my photographs I wanted to illustrate the partial loss of the sense of community of the fishing village through the facades isolated from their surroundings, presented as individual dwellings. My goal was to visualize the character of each house, making it the protagonist within the image itself”, Katharina underlines Traveler.es.
Malaga forever.