Alejandro Martín de Prado

Your project merges photography and narrative. How did the idea of creating a “photo-comic” come to life?

This photo-comic was actually an assignment for my Master degree at first, where our incredible teacher and photographer Laia Abril invited us to make a project where we had to write a text first and then accompany with photographs. Having written said text, the one you can read as the inner dialogue of the Prowler (that´s how I like to call the protagonist of the story), I came to the realization that the theme would be very difficult to address in an original way only by documenting reality; it was a very big subject and I couldn´t just literally photograph the things I mention in the text. So I got the idea of showing not the present of those actions, but the consequences: this Prowler who reflected on how the end of civilization came to occur as we watch him roam the Earth for survival (and also meaning). Being a story so narrative, I felt the best way to show his journey was by creating these photos as panels from a comic-book; planning their disposition on the pages, the space they would hold in these pages and also the order in which we see them. It may seem an odd choice, but taking into account my love for comics, my way of approaching things as a screenwriter and the fact that I had to tell a story with my photos, the decision practically made itself.

The post-apocalyptic tone in your series feels deeply personal. What specific events or emotions inspired this vision?

At the moment of this project, the only thing I was capable of writing was something that had to do with the things that most frighten and worry me almost on a daily basis: the dichotomy between the problems we all face in our daily lives and the ones that are so much bigger than us, as well the environment where those are generated, which is the society where we all live in and that a lot of us have realized that it doesn´t have the best interest in our well being or in the Earth´s as a whole, which is, in the end, our home. The difficulties of finding a fair payed job or a fair priced apartment or the constant bombardment of media are things we should be conscious about in order to resist them but, at the same time, knowing that there are also people being slaughthered or exploited on a daily basis in other parts of the world like their lives don´t matter, such as the genocide in Palestine, leaves you with a feeling of guilt and despair for the world where we live in. So, honestly, this project is a result of a mixed feeling of rage, being overwhelmed and the powerless feeling of seeing the future of the world being taken from us only because of greed.

You use vibrant colors for some images and black-and-white for others. How do you decide which aesthetic fits each moment or message?

The decision between the use of vibrant colors or the use of black and white in this project comes down to the purpose of those photos. The ones in color are for the present of this character, the world of our future and the story we follow, where nature has vibrant colors as a result of contamination and radiation, trying to mimic science fiction, while the black and white stills are more on the surrealist plane; how the character is feeling deep down, while he has to survive day after day. The same way as each one of us have our inner demons.

What role does solitude play in your visual storytelling?

As a photographer who realized his photos where somehow different that the “mainstream”, I came to the conclusion that I didn´t photograph people that much. Instead, I´d photograph silent places, because it´s the way my brain is wired; I´d rather be at places or give attention to the things that usually go unnoticed because of the peace they exude. So then, I think it has to do with how I relate to being alone, those moments when I create and express myself the most and feel at peace. But it´s not that I don´t enjoy company; in the photo-comic, solitude has another layer to it. The Prowler doesn´t have anyone else rather than himself, and knowing he doesn´t feel that well, that solitude is more like a prison than a way of feeling free. So, you know, I wanted to express that having a community and people to care about and that care about you it´s one of the most important pillars in our lives.

In your statement, you mention resisting hate and ignorance. How do you think photography can serve as a tool for social change?

For me, photography is one of the most useful tools for this. In this century it´s all around us and it can feel like there´s nothing new to show or see, but it´s that democratization of the image which can bring social change. Almost everyone has a camera in their phone, they can show the world something that´s happening in their hometown with only a couple thousands inhabitants and not depend on the usual news media. What I find most beautiful about photography is it´s realism; no one can´t deny the evidence. Once something is photographed, it´s inmortalised, and I believe it´s going to be something really important in the days to come in order to prevent that misplaced hate and avoidable ignorance.

What challenges did you face while producing this series—technically, emotionally, or conceptually?

This project was actually very experimental for me, so I had my fair share of challenges. Technically, I had to learn to use the timer in my camera, which wasn´t such a big challenge, but it was interesting trying to get myself in the exact position I had to be in, as I am the “actor” of the Prowler, and most of the time during the shootings I´d be alone (with the exception of two sequences where my girlfriend Camila and a friend, Javier, helped me).

That was rather funny, but the real challenge was emotionally. As I said before, my feelings during the making of the comic were mostly rage and powerlessness because of the theme it had, but it also worked as a way to channel all of that negativity and turn it into something special. It´s paradoxical that art mostly finds it´s origin in those feelings of discomfort, but it´s our way to express them and feel some relieve.

Do you think your background in screenwriting influences the way you structure your photo-narratives?

Of course, as I mentioned before in relation with the creation of this project, but also in a wider spread, like why I´m more interested in documentary photography more than any other style or genre: because it tells a story. Everytime I´m working on a new project and I see the photos I´ve taken, I´m thinking how to properly order them, how to arrange them in the page or pages, because each one of them tells something different and whatever they tell, the reader is influenced by the one prior and the one after. Order matters because each photo feels like a sentence and you want to write a paragraph which makes perfect sense; it´s a dialogue between each photo and the reader but you have to take into account what they have already seen and what they´re about to, just like writing a script.