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La Sagrada Familia

Men playing bolas

Homeless man

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Museum of Modern Art

Fish market

Graffiti

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Lady on La Rambla

Plaza Del Emperador Carlos V

Couple in street

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Madrid at night

Old Town at night

The beach - 6 a.m.

Awhile later I made plans to go back, this time to start making photographs of the things that attracted me. My first trip took me to Malaga in the region of Andalucia in the south of Spain. Some months later when I had some time and money to make another visit I chose to go out to Barcelona in Catalunya, northeast Spain. My next journey took me to Madrid, the Capital City and centre of Spain both politically and geographically, then onto Bilbao in the North.

There were a couple of detours along the way taking me to Cadaques, Toledo, and Figueres, but so far these cities make the main body of work. I plan to go out again at the end of the year to photograph in and around the city of Seville.

Each trip showed signs of an intriguing culture, separate from the tourist’s clichéd perception of Spain and what it is to be Spanish. There’s a lot more to Spain than bullfights, sunburnt tourists and cheap alcohol.

In Spain I did a lot of walking, always with my camera in hand. I photographed people, graffiti, buildings, tourists, landscapes, whatever caught my eye, but mainly the people. Old men at a greyhound track in Barcelona, the barman at an old bar in Malaga where, I was told, Picasso used to drink. Children playing in the street, two ladies sitting talking, a homeless man asking for money to buy food.

Spain is a varied country and the differences are many; landscape, language, culture. Traditions vary from one part to another. Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of Spain is the contradictions and complexities of a country only relatively recently turned democratic. This development of the country is exciting and documentation important.

Regional identity remains an ever-present issue throughout Spain today because it was suppressed for so long under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Franco’s rule began after his victory in the civil war of 1936 - 1939, and under which the separate regions of Spain were denied the right to express their individuality; their own customs and language. The dominance Franco exerted over Spain and the Spanish people cannot be overstated. Having for years to conceal their regional variations, their customs and languages, the Spanish people now revel in their relatively new-found freedom.

It goes without saying that these are changes for the better, the restoring of regional identities is deeply important, this is as much a part of who we are as individuals as our fingerprints. As John Hooper observed in his 1995 book The New Spaniards, "The changes of recent years have not merely produced a new Spain but a new Spaniard."

Perhaps the Spanish are reveling in a freedom of expression long denied to them, but there are concerns about what this, ‘New Spaniard’ is becoming.

The issue of identity is important throughout Spain and often rises to the surface of Spanish politics.

The Basque separatist group E.T.A. are well known for their terrorist tactics, and what of these calls for independence from the varying regions? Will time split the country, ultimately answering the question of Spanish identity in a way many people will regret?

This discord is evident in the graffiti on the walls of Spain's cities. Under the towers of one of Barcelona's most famous landmarks, Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral, there is, sprayed on a wall, the message 'Cataloni is not Spain'. Graffiti on a wall in Malaga expresses the same sentiment, 'Esto no es Espana, esto es Andalucia', (This is not Spain, this is Andalucia). Another one of Malaga's walls insists upon 'Independence & socialism' for the region of Andalucia. Bilbao may be undergoing a cultural renaissance at the moment but E.T.A’s name can still be seen on the walls of the city.

I hope that the work shows the people and the places honestly, catching the similarities and the differences from one part of Spain to another, even one part of a city to another. During my stay in Bilbao, for example, in April, the 'Semana Santa' (Holy Week) religious festivals fight for your attention with the new Guggenheim Museum. The Frank O. Gehry designed masterpiece is a testament to modernity, the Semana Santa festivals date back 500 years, and demonstrate the huge contrast in Spanish culture today.

I rarely talk about my approach to photography. I prefer to let the results say what is needed. Though one thing is becoming increasingly apparent, I prefer, when possible and the subject allows, to work on a series of images on a theme. I find it difficult to convey all that I want to in a single image. You cannot say all that you feel about something with a single statement, you need to elaborate. Allowing multiple images to communicate what I want. I can only liken it to a conversation between the viewer and myself through photography, making it a personal experience and hopefully, enriching and more comprehensive than a single image.

Certain images are strong on their own and sell well as prints, but others do not and this is fine. When seen as a portfolio and in-depth study, some of the images intentionally act as support for others. They are to be viewed in context of the whole and serve to strengthen the whole portfolio.

This is very much a work in progress, the photographs shown here are samples from the beginning of what is a long term work; my observations of a beautiful country and its people at an important time.

Michael Williams, October 2000

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