Born in Madrid (Spain), Juan Rodríguez Morales is an emerging documentary photographer based in Madrid. He studied photography in Alcobendas (Madrid) at People´s University. He has worked on several projects focused on street photography and documentary photography. In 2013, Juan was recognized during Photo España under Discoveries because of his project “One Big City”. In 2015 he receives an Honorable Mention for the FotoVisura Grant for Outstanding Personal Photography Project with his work “Ghost World”. As part of the collective “Contemporaries” has participated in few collective exhibitions and published the book “Contemporaries” in 2015.
Today, he is still working on street photography.
Ghost World
I grew up in a town near a big city. No matter its name, all locations around the capital are roughly equal. Before becoming a large urban center, these cities were small towns during the sixties, where many people from all over the country came with the idea of working in the capital. Since these have undergone tremendous changes. Its population has grown exponentially and most of these cities are about 100,000 people. They have quality public services, entertainment, and a standard of living more than remarkable. However, despite development, life seems to have stood still. The important things happen a few miles from here, in the now big city; however, in what is now considered the suburbs, no one seems to be aware of life outside. It seems that energy has moved to the big malls around the town leaving it empty, hollow. Everyone seems to be passing, whether to go to the capital to work or to spend the weekend shopping. In the placid suburbs, life goes smoothly and even a strange sense of ennui and melancholy pervades everything. This series tries to pick those feelings.
To view more of Juan Rodríguez Morales’s work please visit their website.