The works presented at our stand are an extension of the urban research project initiated by photographer Ricardo Cases in 2018 in the city of Valencia, which was compiled in 2023 under the title El ficus del Parterre. Now, under the name Los tamarindos de La Concha, that series of brief photographic essays is joined by new work produced in Donostia, as a result of an artist residency supported by the Kutxa Foundation.
Without a predetermined program, the photographer engages in a daily exercise that pushes compositional conventions to the limit, relying on spontaneously appearing elements such as balloons, bicycle seats, or bus shelters. In these series, Ricardo Cases emphasizes the duration of the photographic gesture—he highlights it and dwells in each scene, often circling around it until it is exhausted, until he has explored all the possibilities offered by a single event. This grammar of movement, akin to an athletic exercise, records the unexpected: the irregularities of the terrain, the collisions, the shifts in rhythm, and creates a mosaic of small details that build into a whole.
The city acts as a stimulus, revealing itself as fertile ground for exploring the limits of the image and playing with a sense of estrangement, though without the intention of offering a passive or sterile vision. His aim is also to address cultural and social issues, proposing symbols that explore the character and identity of those who inhabit the landscape.
