Benjamin Briones Grandi

Title: Detraídos

About the Photo:
Detraído means subtracted or stolen in Spanish. More and more often we leave our everyday lives to get immersed in nature, getting subtracted from our reality. It has become a common practice of modern society. We could argue that it is our need to reconnect with nature since we live in big cities that do not allow us to be in direct contact with the natural world. Nevertheless, even though I think that is true, it also has a deeper and darker side to it. Why is it that we need to escape? What is so unbearable of our lives? Wouldn’t it be easier to find a way to be happy where and how we currently are instead of escaping? This series raises these questions for the viewer, particularly in these pandemic times when we are forced to stay home. Maybe the answer lies within us, perhaps we can find it without leaving our homes and we make it harder than it is. Far from being a heroic portrait of our relation with the natural environment it is instead about our inner journey, and the harshness we go through just to find ourselves somehow.