8.31.2015

Mono Colectivo US Trip 2015: Margarita Valdivieso and Juliana Henao Alcaraz

From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso

To awake from our extended summer break, we're starting off by featuring a selection of portfolios made by the nine fototazo microgrant recipients during their 10-day workshop at the University of Iowa in late June and early July.

Their portfolios will be featured over the next several days with a short text on the work in the original Spanish with an English translation presented after the images. Today we feature the work of Margarita Valdivieso and Juliana Henao Alcaraz.
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From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso


From the series "Missed connections" © Margarita Valdivieso

Missed connections
Margarita Valdivieso

This project is a photographic portrait of Iowa City through the narratives of love in the virtual world. Produced during a short photography workshop at the University of Iowa, USA, I used the famous page Craigslist to portray the city through people who post ads for missed connections online. Thus, by curating a selection of stories, I create images that, in the place where the missed connection has happened, evoke or provoke, sarcastically or disconcertingly, the landscapes where these "missed connections" occurred.

Este proyecto fotográfico es un retrato de la ciudad de Iowa a través de las narrativas del amor en el mundo virtual. Producido a partir de una corta residencia y taller de fotografía en la Universidad de Iowa, EE.UU; utilicé la famosa pagina de anuncios "craigslist" para retratar la ciudad a partir de los anuncios de missed connections que postean las personas en internet. Así, curando una selección de historias, creo imágenes que, en el lugar donde se ha desarrollado la historia, evoquen o provoquen de manera sarcástica o desconcertante los paisajes donde estas "conexiones perdidas" ocurrieron.
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From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz


From the series "Homecity" © Juliana Henao Alcaraz

Homecity
Juliana Henao Alcaraz

On my trip to Iowa, I started living situations that I had never faced before, given that it was the first time I had left my country. Feelings including confusion, being lost or constantly looking for a place led me to reflect on my relationship with an unknown location that tries to acknowledge me and be pleasant to me, but that ultimately fails to create a complete connection with me. The failure comes from various barriers such as language, spatial location or simply by being something completely new to me and by missing what is known to me. Homecity tries to reference these situations by presenting paths without exits and spaces that do not go beyond trying to manufacture a sense of the warmth of home.

En mi viaje a Iowa USA empecé a vivir situaciones a las que nunca me había enfrentado, ya que era la primera vez que salía del país. Sentimientos como confusión, estar perdida o buscando un lugar siempre, me llevaron a reflexionar sobre mi relación con un espacio desconocido que trata de reconocerme y ser agradable pero que al final no logra esa conexión completa por diferentes barreras como: el idioma, la ubicación del espacio o simplemente por el hecho de ser algo completamente nuevo para mí y extrañar lo conocido. Homecity, trata de referirse a estas situaciones con recorridos sin salida y espacios que se quedan en el intento de representar el calor de hogar.