The Prize Nuevo Talento FNAC de Fotografía presented in Spain has been assigned to Manolo Espaliú with his work “42 ° C”. Manolo Espaliú will be exhibited in Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian and Zaragoza.
42º C
Seville is probably the hottest city in Europe; for most of the summer, temperatures remain above 40ºC. In these months, the locals avoid going out during the hottest part of the day. Only tourists with a thirst for sightseeing dare go out in the hot Sevillian summer, perhaps out of ignorance.
Late in the afternoon, as twilight approaches, Sevillians begin to mix with the foreigners when the temperature gives some respite. Many keep to the shade as they walk, but some areas offer no shelter and gestures in the heat seem to become gestures of anxiety.
’42º C’ shows passers-by emerging from the shadows into the light at precisely that orange dividing line where the scorching luminescence of summer splits in two – light and shadow. In the streets of Seville, where the two join in battle every afternoon.
People crossing in the bright suffocating heat of 42 degrees centigrade interact with each other with gestures and inquiring glances. Summer’s combatants, they have met at the exact vertex which separates what the shadows hide and the light makes visible. Their figures trace the lines of a sweltering urban geometry composed of the elements of photography: light and shadow. The suspended thickness of asphyxiating heat is made sweaty flesh, not only in a forlorn gesture, but also in the very contrast and violent explosion of light. You can feel the heat in these photos.
Manolo Espaliú was born in 1970 in Seville, Spain. His professional background is not related to photography, except for specific collaborations with media in Spanish newspapers and travel & outdoor magazines. He has been recently awarded as ‘Nuevo Talento FNAC de Fotografía 2012’ (2012 FNAC New Photography Talent) with his work 42º C, prize that discovers emergent photographers in Spain.
