Meet the fourth member of the Selection Committee of eyephoneography #1, Cayetana de la Quadra-Salcedo.

[Ir a la versión española]

We started out meeting the Selection committee of eyephoneography through Darren Milligan first, then Sally Gutiérrez and Michel Bricteux later. It is now the turn of the fourth member, Cayetana de la Quadra-Salcedo.

Who are you?
Cayetana de la Quadra-Salcedo, architect since 1993. I graduated in Madrid and traveled a lot. I worked in El Salvador, Cuba and Portugal in development cooperation projects and architectural heritage rehabilitation. Now I live in Madrid and work in AYR architecture studio, which I founded with Josemaria Churtichaga, my partner and life companion. Our creations are found all through the Spanish geography, mainly public buildings, libraries, town halls… Currently we have several works in progress, the future Cinematheque in Madrid’s Matadero and the Centre for New Technologies in Villaverde. In Almazán, the remodeling of the “Plaza Mayor” (town square). And in Havana, we are about to begin the new building of the Spanish Consulate, one of our most beloved projects.
Ah! And if I have to describe who I am, I have to underline that I am primarily a mother of three beautiful girls: Martina (6), Juana (4) and Cayetana (2).

Why did you accept to be a part of eyephoneography?
I met Rocio (organizer of eyephoneography) at the HubMadrid, a renovated former garage whose architectural rehabilitation process we led. It is a very special workspace that opened recently. [Note of the editor: The Spanish newspaper El País published an interview of Cayetana and Josemaria Churtichaga on August 10th that you can read here.] A bit later she proposed that I participate in the eyephoneography #1 and I accepted with great enthusiasm because I think it is a field of artistic experimentation and with great prospects. It is always nice and rewarding to take part in artistic initiatives: besides in this case the professional level of the organizers is very high and so I hope to contribute with my peripheral view.

Which is your favorite image from each of the four photographers included in this first show and why?
I chose those pictures that, in my view, represent what sets this medium apart from other photographic techniques: they embody the casual, the imperfect, and are the result of a spontaneous shot. In my choices I use an intuitive process of “love at first sight.” I can not specifically explain the reasons for my choice, but we could say that I have chosen from each author the image that transmits the highest sense of aesthetic harmony, the one that provides most pleasure to watch, the one that I would like to contemplate every day if I had to pick one among a set of high-quality images. Here they are:

MissPixels, All mine

Sion Fullana, The girl behind the glass

Marco La Civita, Kryptonite on steroids

Greg Schmigel, Memoirs of Mr Fullana

How long have you known of mobile photography?
I’ve been a user of this technology since it was built into mobile phones. Thanks to its immediacy and power of communication it represents a very useful tool for an architect’s work – both in planning phase (references and materials) and in the implementation and construction phase-. I have also made use of its “journalist potential” by using it to report instantly events that I have lived firsthand. Later on, as the quality and resolution improved, I used this medium for taking family pictures and videos, during holidays and events. However, it wasn’t until I learned about eyephoneography that I became aware of the existence of a specific artistic movement using this tool.

Where do you think mobile photography is going?
Currently mobile photography has been integrated into mobile phones as an inseparable possibility and right now there are millions of images cruising the cyberspace that originated in mobile phones and feed social networks. It is a new form of communication, supported by a new technology, and it is when the technique is mastered, that the artistic distillation appears. I think this movement should retain its freshness as a trait, accepting imperfection as a possible language so as to differentiate itself from other photographic disciplines.

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