Premio Combat Prize

A series of photographs of five mature women, against a vast green landscape obscured by clouds and mist.
The title ”Holodeck” is a sci-fi term that refers to a facility on starships where holographic images are used to create realistic simulations of other places.
A common motif to these photographs comes from the opening lines to a poem in Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil):

I have not forgotten our little white retreat
Where we were neighbors to the town of busy streets;
Our plaster Venus and Pomona barely could
Conceal their nakedness within our meagre wood.
Evenings, the sun would stream superbly, and would splash
Prismatic colors through the simple window glass;
He seemed a curious eye in overarching space
Who watched us as we dined in silence, without haste,
And spread throughout the room a mellow candle-glow
On frugal drapes of serge, the tablecloth below.

Charles Baudelaire, ”Flowers of Evil”, XCIX, 1857.

The indistinct landscape, seemingly uprooted in time and space, is a fitting device that transports the subjects to a dreamt place. An ideal remembered place that is always unreal.
Ana Galan reviews the portrait formula that emerged in Italy towards the end of the 15th century, whose origins can be traced to the work of Jan Van Eyck, which associated, in painting, busts with landscapes.

People are reduced to busts or three quarters, substituting through synthesis, the whole for the part. Her realistic portraits do not aim to idealize de subjects’ features; they are fragments of an essence. The figures are placed in a raised position before a wide and idealized landscape.

A point of view and a single location. A part of the whole. An Impression. A small fragment of the essence.

Windows, and at the same time, mirrors. Conflict between introspection and the projection of the subject inherent to strong portraiture. Transparency or reflection?


Biography

Ana Galán was born in Madrid. After receiving her degree in Economics, she completed an International MBA, which entailed studying in three different cities: Oxford, Madrid and Paris. In the last two courses, she wrote a thesis addressing “Speculation in Plastic Art”.

Since 1993 she has combined her passion for photography with her profession, attending various courses in Paris and Madrid. After doing and MFA in Photography in 2009/2010 at EFTI, and after attending workshops with Pierre Gonnord, Eduardo Momeñe, Peter Bialobrzeski, Lynne Cohen, Matt Siber, José Ramón Bas, Eugenio Ampudia, Alejandro Castellote, Chema Madoz… her photography becomes more personal. Since then she has participated in several collective exhibits and photography projects in France, Italy, India, Spain and USA.

She works as the marketing director for a magazine in Madrid, and lives between Madrid and Paris.


Awards

2012

International Award Tenimenti D’Alessandro, Cortona on the Move International Photo Festival 2012, Cortona (Italy). Finalist. July
1º Premio Internacional de Fotografía Galería Rita Castellote 2012, Madrid (Spain). Finalist. June
Les Nuits Photographiques, Paris (Francia). Finalista. Junio
« 86th Annual International Competition: Photography », The Print Center. (Juror: Jennifer Blessing, Curator of Photography, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). Philadelphia (USA). Finalist. June
Arteles Creative Center, Hämeenkyrö (Finland). Artist-in-residence. June
Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo (Japan). Art Division Jury Recommended Works. February
The Center for Fine Art Photography. Fort Collins, Colorado (USA). Director’s Honorable Mention. January

2011

« Let pain be only a souvenir », II Premio de Arte Grünenthal. Madrid (Spain), Finalist. November
XII CEC Plastic Art International Contest. Cadiz (Spain). Finalist. November
Bourse du Talent #47 Portrait. Paris (France). Finalist. October
Encontros da Imagem 2011: Emergents. Braga (Portugal). Finalist. October
Galerie Huit Open Salon Photography Competition. Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival, Arles (France). Finalist. July
Paris Photo Prize Px3, Paris (France). Finalist. June
Philadelphia Art Hotel, Philadelphia (USA). Artist-in-residence. June
PHotoEspaña 2011: Descubrimientos. Madrid (Spain). Finalist. June
V Premio de Fotografía Digital Santander Creativa-Foconorte. Santander (España). Finalist. June
Fresh Look Portfolio Review. Month of Photography of Los Angeles (MOPLA) (USA). Selection. April
CENTER. 2011 Dealer’s Choice Award (Dianne Vanderlip, Curator, Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, California (USA)). Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA). Third Place. March
CENTER. 2011 Editor’s Choice Award (Todd James, Senior Photo Editor, National Geographic Magazine). Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA). Honorable Mention. March

2010

SFR Jeunes Talents Photo, Paris Photo 2010. Lauréate. November
Emergents-2010: Pati de La Llotja. Lleida (Spain). Finalist. October
Encontros da Imagem 2010: Emergentes. Braga (Portugal). Finalist. September
PHotoEspaña 2010: Descubrimientos. Madrid (Spain). Finalist. June


Group Exhibitions

2012

« In transit », Photaumnales Festival 2012, Beauvais (France). September-November
« Pasión, fotografías en la azotea », Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid (Spain). July-August
1º Premio Internacional de Fotografía Galería Rita Castellote 2012, Galería Rita Castellote, Madrid (Spain). July-August
Photography Open Salon Arles 2012, Screening installation, Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival. Arles (France). July
Les Nuits Photographiques, La Galerie du Magasin de Jouets, Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival. Arles (France). July
Näkymä 2012 Open Sight Art Exhibition, Akaa (Finland). June-August
Les Nuits Photographiques, Screening, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris (France). June
« Common life, images for the community of citizens », Festival Fotografia Europea 012, Reggio Emilia (Italy). May-June
Festival Internacional de Fotografía Pa-ta-ta. Itinerary Street Furniture, Granada (Spain). May
« It’s a thin line between love and hate », United Photo Industries HQ. DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York (USA). February
« Transience », Open Salon Penang Exhibition 2012, China House, George Town, Penang (Malaysia), January-February
« Portraits », The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado (USA), January-February

2011

« Let pain be only a souvenir », II Premio de Arte Grünenthal. Sala Mirador Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (Spain), November. Catalogue.
« XII CEC Plastic Art International Contest Finalists », Castillo Santa Catalina, Cadiz (Spain). December. Catalogue.
« Other possible titles », Grizzly Grizzly Gallery, Philadelphia (USA), November
« Atlántica Colectivas », FotoNoviembre International Photography Biennale 2011, Tenerife (Spain), November. Catalogue.
Delhi Photo Festival 2011, Delhi (India), October. Catalogue.
« Finalists of the International Photography Awards Emergentes DST”, Mosteiro de Tibães, Braga (Portugal), October
« Curve Awards Exhibition », CENTER, Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA), September-December
« In praise of elderly », Getxophoto International Photography Festival, Getxo (Spain), September. Catalogue.
« Transience », Galerie Huit Open Salon 2011 Exhibition, Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival, Arles (France), July-September
« Paris Photo Prize Px3 », Espace Dupon, Paris (France), June-July
« Portraits: a photographic exhibition », PHotoEspaña 2011, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid (Spain), June-July
Projection. V Premio de Fotografía Digital Santander Creativa-Foconorte, Centro Cultural Doctor Madrazo, Santander (Spain). June
Projection/debate on the social value of photography, Festival Internacional de Fotografía Pa-ta-ta, Granada (Spain), May
« Arachné », Primo Piano LivinGallery, Lecce (Italy), March
« Subjective: portraits today », Centro de las Artes y Cultura, Alcorcón, Madrid (Spain), March
« We are history because we tell us », Primo Piano LivinGallery, Lecce (Italy), January

2010

« Lauréats du Prix SFR Jeunes Talents Paris Photo 2010 », Espace SFR Jeunes Talents Photo, Paris Photo, Paris (France), November. Catalogue.
« Finalists of the International Photography Awards Emergentes DST”, Mosteiro de Tibães, Braga (Portugal), September
« Masters 09/10 », EFTI, Madrid (Spain), July. Catalogue.
Festival Tarrazona-Foto, Zaragoza (Spain), July
« Crisis », nstituto Puerta Bonita, Madrid (Spain), May. Catalogue.


Reviews

2012

make8eleive Issue #2, “Levitation”. August 2012-January 2013
PHositivo. Oficial Photobook of the 2012 Festival Internacional de Fotografía Pa-ta-ta
fanzine 10x15 #29 “I love Baum”. January-February
inédito blog. January

2011

2011 International Photography (IPA) book
burn magazine. July
2011 Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) book
30y3 blog. March
eldadodelarte blog. March
fanzine 10x15 #24 “I love Dos”. February-March
Photos Nouvelles #67. January-February

2010

www.lainformacion.com. November
Shot magazine. Portfolio Spécial Paris Photo 2010 SFR Jeunes Talents. November
New_Papers. Posters and Emergent 2010. October
Descubrimientos PHotoEspaña 2010. Catalogue. June


Collections

CENTER, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Philadelphia Art Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA