Girona Est x 365, the soul of a neighborhood

When we talk about photography, we talk about giving color, putting a face and making a reality visible. This is what the photographer Tino Soriano presents to us in the exhibition Girona Est x 365, the soul of a neighborhood, in collaboration with the Girona Est Foundation. Tino Soriano is recognized nationally and internationally for being a great photojournalist, and giving a different image and vision of reality from different corners around the world. In this case, Tino Soriano discovers and exposes part of the five neighborhoods that are part of the eastern sector of the city of Girona, a bourgeois city, politically correct and that highlights the old neighborhood and surroundings as a center of tourist interest, artistic and social. The five districts are: Villaroja, Font de la Pólvora, Mas Ramada, Grup Sant Daniel and La Creueta. All five neighborhoods share what Tino Soriano calls "the essence of the neighborhood, because in the neighborhoods of Girona Est daily life is more interesting than in the city center." After all, neighborhoods are made up of people, and without them we would not have the soul of Girona Est x 365, the soul of a neighborhood of which the title of the exhibition speaks to us, and this is precisely the The ultimate goal is to give visibility and face to the people who are part of the neighborhoods of Girona Est.

Foto: Tino Soriano

The context of Girona Est is different from the city center. The neighborhoods of Girona Est are constantly stigmatized and influenced by the prejudices generated by ignorance and misinformation on the part of the media in relation to day-to-day life and coexistence in the neighborhoods. This misinformation is not only due to the negativity of the news articles about the neighborhood, but also due to the lack of cultural facilities and leisure resources in the neighborhoods, not to mention the difficult communication with the center of Girona.

The creation and implementation of the exhibition comes from a very clear idea; to give a real image of the neighborhood, to face the inhabitants and therefore to make visible. Since the face is what identifies us in the visual realm, what it sounds like to see when we think we recognize someone. Exposing yourself to a camera and a photographer is not easy, we can always feel that we have something to cover up or hide, and a natural photograph is almost a feeling of helplessness. Therefore, to open the doors of a house for a photographer is to show courage, and the exhibition is also a reflection of this courage and this strength of the inhabitants of the neighborhood to want to move forward. Girona Est is the neighborhoods, the squares, the different ethnicities and personalities, the desire to live and give life, the music, the young people ... But, above all, Girona Est is the people. Each person with a present, a past and a future. And, among all the people, they contribute to the soul of the neighborhood.

Photographs by Tino Soriano