Hi, I'm Alex Llovet and I want to ask your help to publish my second photobook: FARAWAY SO CLOSE.
A son or daughter teaches you how to learn again. And we speak very little of what happens to us when we become parents. In my case, it was a big emotional earthquake: in the blink of an eye, this event broke the shell that I had been building throughout my life, transforming me into a more fragile and vulnerable being. It also made me rethink my relationship with my own parents. Because one cannot be a father without the memory of being a son...
Five years later, after finding a new balance that reinforced my foundations, I needed to understand what had happened to me and share it through photography. That's when FARAWAY SO CLOSE was born.
I started to go into the forest. At first, for the simple pleasure of walking aimlessly, listening and observing. And gradually with the increasing awareness that I was looking for something, but unsure of what that was.
I also began to document this process, creating a photo diary of my trip. Sometimes I went walking alone, and sometimes with my daughter.
The forest therefore became the symbolic territory where realities resonate as distant in time and space as they are near emotionally. A trip back and forth between my present and my childhood memories to try ultimately to unite the roles of father and son, in search of my own identity.
And this exercise inevitably describes the border between reality and fiction (like my pictures, some of which are “found” and some “staged”), because the passing of time pushes the truth into forgetfulness and maximizes the imagination.
The background
In 2014, thanks to a number of patrons who supported the project, I published my first photo book DEAR NEIGHBOR, a social x-ray of my neighbourhood "Mas Sauro" in the Collserola forest (a national park that surrounds Barcelona). By photographing and interviewing each one of my neighbours. I was actually trying to understand who I am through the people that surround me, in the plart of the world I had chosen to live in. There is a strong link between the two projects: the search for identity.
In FARAWAY SO CLOSE I'm wondering who I am, but this time through my experience of fatherhood, and my childhood memories. It is about memory and origins, but also about the passing of time, and the physical and spiritual nature of life.
This is definitely a more abstract project, in which I investigate the poetic possibilities of photographic language, so I am working on a very different level. And despite being maybe more difficult to understand, I believe its mystery is precisely its appeal.
The international career
In mid-2015, I began to post pictures from FARAWAY SO CLOSE online and submit them to competitions and festivals. These are some of the international awards it has won since:
PHOTOGENIC Festival - Best Emerging Photographer (Spain)
NEXOFOTO, Ibero-American Photography Contest - Honorable Mention, Best Five Photographers (Chile)
ESPY Photoaward - Finalist, Best 40 Photographers (UK)
PMMUSEUM, Photographic Museum of Humanity - Photographer of the Day (USA)
ATHENS Photo Festival - Finalist (Greece)
BIPA, Barcelona International Photography Award (ValidFoto and LensCulture) - Finalist, Best 50 Photographers (Spain)
DOCFIELD Dummy Award - Selected (Spain)
Part of the work has also been exhibited in galleries in the UK, Chile and Spain.
What will the book look like?
This will be a photographic book measuring about 8x12", a unique object in a limited edition of 400 numbered and signed copies. It will have about 70 pages printed in offset with high quality paper including:
35 black and white photographs (approx.).
Edition by curator Silvia Omedes.
Design by Inés Casals.
In the last six months I have produced 3 different models of the book, in in a search to find the format that best enhances the nature of the work (size, binding, paper, finishing, cover, sequencing, etc.). Here are two images of the third one, which is undoubtedly the one that comes closest to what the final book will look like.
What will then money be used for?
All the contributions will cover the costs of designing and printing the book.
When will you have the book in your hands?
We are currently designing the book. Our intention is to go to press in April 2016 and make the deliveries in May.
Why participate in the project? 10 reasons ...
1 - Because helping to make the dream of another person come true fills you with satisfaction.
2 - Because there will be only 400 copies of this book in the world, and one of them will be yours.
3 - Because books accompany us our whole lives.
4 - Because I still believe that with enthusiasm and work, any dream can become true.
5 - Because we are surrounded by noise, and it is increasingly necessary to raise a voice in defense of the poetic and the pursuit of beauty as essential food for the soul.
6 - Because limits are only mental barriers we create ourselves.
7 - Because we need to establish personal relationships, on a one-to-one basis, and uniting dreams collectively, we can go much further.
8 - Because maybe one day you will open the door of your house and find me there with your book in my hand. With my previous project DEAR NEIGHBOR, I decided to deliver many of the books personally, and I'll never forget the look of surprise and joy on each one of those peoples faces...
9 – Because I got to meet a lot of interesting people, and the process made me feel very loved. And as the song says: "Everyone gives what they receive and then gets what they give."
10 - Because I assure you that the experience of becoming patrons and being part of the process of creating and producing a book is amazing!
**With your contribution you can make my second book a reality...
Thank you for supporting and sharing my project!
Together we will succeed!!! **
You can see a selection of images on my website: www.alexllovet.com
5 comments
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Carmen Alvarez
Hola Alex, soy Carmen Cecilia Alvarez, hoy fui a recoger el libro que me has mandado pero no me lo dan porque viene a mi nombre completo, pero en el carnet solo tengo Carmen. Podrías ponerte en contacto conmigo para pedir mandes un fax a correos.
Alex Llovet
Author
Hola,
Buena pregunta!
Será un libro estrictamente fotográfico.
No quiero que su interpretación se vea condicionada por un texto...
Así que en este caso, las imágenes hablarán por si solas!
Un saludo.
Marco
Hola Alex, mi pregunta es si habrá algún tipo de texto que acompañe al trabajo visual, y en ese caso de que tipo será.
Gracias y mucha suerte!
Alex Llovet
Author
Hi,
There is no problem!
I've checked the price of the shipment, and it would cost me 15€.
As there is no particular pledge option for such a shipment, you could pledge the 30€ option (1 book with shipment to Spain) + the 10 € option (4 postcards), making a total of 40€.
And I would then be very happy to send you the book to Australia!
Thanx very much!!!
manuel
Will you ship to Australia.
Gracias y saludos