Down the Garden Path (ongoing)
Down the Garden Path is a photographic series that explores the historical memory of Francoism through the vernacular narratives of political repression in the Galician territory of Spain.
Franco's homeland, Galicia was one of the first territories to fall to the nationalists at the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. It became a laboratory for the regime's methods of repression, later generalized across Spain under the most brutal practices. At the end of the dictatorship, a political omerta was imposed on the country, rendering all testimony invisible. Yet a spirit of anti-fascist resistance leads a determined struggle to exhume the crimes of the regime.
Down the Garden Path was born from my anxiety in the face of the rise of contemporary fascisms, but also from my great-grandfather's story. Known in his village for his opposition to Francoism, he had built a shelter in his garden, equipped with a bed, provisions, and a rifle. To escape the nightly executions, he slept there and had drilled a peephole in the door, just large enough to survey his surroundings, but also to slip his rifle through and defend himself if necessary.
The title comes from an English expression describing a situation where someone is deliberately deceived or led astray, usually in a subtle or gradual manner. Gardens also evoke the lush vegetation of this part of Spain and the way in which human remains can nourish plant growth, making Galician nature a silent witness to mass graves. Down the Garden Path also alludes to the idea of a walk, which can be translated as "dar un paseo" in Spanish, a common expression used to designate the assassinations perpetrated by the regime.
The project is composed of four intertwined elements: a documentary exploration of Franco's legacy in Galicia; a fictional interpretation of vernacular narratives of repression in Galicia, staged in collaboration with local actors; archives from the Galician Phalange, the equivalent of the Gestapo, revisiting the past through documented facts that resonate with the fictional work; and a hybrid textual framework blending fictional narrative, historical analysis, and press excerpts, serving as both a narrative and contextual tool.
First Prize of the Prix Focale 2026
First Prize of the Prix Photoforum 2025