In 2001, a handful of Spanish photographers graduated from the Escuela de Arte 10 in Madrid. Antonio Xoubanova, Óscar Monzón, Mario Rey, and Fosi Vegue wanted, and needed, to make their voices heard, to stand out, be present locally, nationally, and even globally. The solution was to pool their talents, their resources, and their skills. Two years later, the collective Blank Paper was born. As part of the program I am writing to you from a faraway land, the Rencontres d’Arles festival proposes a “present tense” retrospective of the Madrid—and more generally Spanish—scene.
As Antonio Xoubanova, one of the founding members of Blank Paper, asserts, “the idea was to create a collective that would enable us to pool our skills and experience, and raise our profile.” One of the mottos of the collective is “total honesty.” Everyone looks critically, rigorously, and impartially at other people’s work. “We have learned a lot from the critiques and from our colleagues’ experience, and this has enriched our work.” This critical method, applied to the work of others, ends up influencing how one looks at one’s own projects. Hence, Antonio Xoubanova doesn’t think of his work as the result of individual creation; for him, the work takes shape in response to its surroundings, within its specific context. “Creation is a collective endeavor, and the richer the environment, the richer the photographer’s work is going to be.”
The photographers do not, however, reject their heritage; the range of influences remains considerable. Blank Paper is about exchanges, transmission, creativity, although certainly not about revolution. The collective does not want to erase the past, but rather to find their own place in contemporary creation and to engage in dialog with previous movements. Ricardo Cases has thus acknowledged recently the influence of such artists as Carlos Perez Siquier, for his use of color, and Cristobal Hara, for his use of the flash. The group follow, admire, and study such artists.
Ricardo Cases became a member of the group in 2005. The collective is slowly expanding. Cases learned about its existence on the internet. He contacted them; they met; and gave one another rigorous feedback on their work. And soon he was one of them! Having a curious mind is similarly essential for the collective. In 2005, they began to receive some recognition and the first positive reviews. Fosi Vegue received the FotoPres Grant to work on his project Extremanuncíon, while Antonio Xoubanova won the ARCO First Prize in Documentary Photography.
The year 2006 was pivotal in the life of the collective, which had transformed into a school of photography. The latest graduates would become instructors. Their philosophy is based on knowledge-sharing, and their critical approach is reflected in their teaching. Everyone benefits. Being an instructor tends to foster a “self-centered” approach, Antonio Xoubanova has told us. “Teaching is both an act of generosity and egoism. The student is learning, but so is the teacher, since you must help the student find solutions to their creative dilemmas.”
Having started the school the previous year, Alejandro Marote and Julian Barón became instructors already in 2007. In 2009, Natalia Troitiño and Ricardo Cases founded the publishing house Ediciones. In 2013, Óscar Monzón received the First Book Award granted by Paris Photo and the Aperture Foundation. The collective-turned-school has continued to grow and expand, gaining wider recognition.
The school itself has evolved. On Julian Barón’s initiative, it began offering online courses. Soon it will launch a project of tutorials, with the possibility of taking a private course at the artist’s workshop or at one’s own home.
At present, Blank Paper employs 18 instructors, many of whom are the school’s alumni. David Hornillos, Michele Tagliaferri, Bernardita Morello, Miren Pastor, and Federico Clavarino have all become teachers. Over the summer, the Madrid school sets up shop in the hometown of another great institution: the École Nationale Supérieure de Photographie. There is no doubt that students from all walks of life will be able to learn a great deal.
Arthur Dayras
Arthur Dayras is a writer specializing in photography. He lives and works in Paris.
Blank Paper, Histoire du présent immédiat
Festival des Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles 2017
July 3 to September 24, 2017
Arles, France
