Els Segadors
Photographing on the beaches of Catalonia during 2008, I set out with an idea to produce a concept which could act, not as a statement to inform the work, but as a way to focus my direction while documenting the beach culture of the area.
Catalonia is an area of Spain where many are advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence and as I delved further I began to see many similarities with British Nationalism.
I decided to concentrate on a quote by Winston Churchill: "We shall fight them on the beaches" and similar quote from the Catalan national anthem ("Els Segadors" (The Reapers)): "Defenders of the land!".
I looked for images of an imaginary war - bodies on the beaches, people standing strong defending the water - and an air of pride and arrogance.
This is what drove me through the project, but not necessarily what is represented in the final images. The two things to me are completely separate, and are only mentioned as a way to inform the process of the project.
