Nuria López Torres, Spain
Nuria López Torres studied at the Institute of Photographic Studies in Catalonia for three years and has a Master in photo journalism from the IDEP Barcelona. She concerns herself mainly with projects on gender, identity and sexuality. Torres is the author of the book Sex and Revolution in Cuba. Her work has been shown in many countries and published in media like El Pais, Guardian, or Le Monde.
Remembering the African roots of their ancestors – this is the joint concern of a young movement in Cuba that brings together female musicians from the hip-hop scene with feminist activists. They no longer want to forget those roots or repress them. They are proud and express a new confidence, manifest not least in embracing their magnificent hair and African aesthetics of dress and beauty. And – in Catholic Cuba – in a return to the religious world of Africa.
La Larga Travesía, the long journey, is what Spanish photographer Nuria López Torres calls her project about the hidden and now increasingly louder and more visible weight of Africanness in Cuban society. To this end, she combines symbols and images from colonial times and slavery with portraits from today.
The photographer hopes that a history of racism, oppression and exploitation will transform itself into a history of the final revolt and of emancipation. Above all, the emancipation of women.
(Laudatio by Peter-Matthias Gaede)