TIERRA SOLIDA  — ALOHA BONSER SHAW
by Michele Amaglio
12.04.2016

British photographer Aloha Bonser Shaw was born in a mountainous valley in the south of Spain where rural communities lead their life away from the intoxicating rhythms of modern society. The small villages settled in this natural environment host young couples from all around Europe that either decided to spend some time away from our fast-paced world, or to raise their children in a healthier environment.

Photography often plays a fundamental role as a tool for documentation, showing to the world the existence of something alternative: a record that offers a different perspective on our reality.  In the case of the body of work Tierra Solida every photograph combines both a documentary approach and a personal engagement with this territory that permeates an emotional charge. Aloha Bonser Shaw wanted to investigate and document her birthplace through an intimate journey into memory and origin. She says “I had none of my own memories of this place but my parent’s romantic stories of living off grid beneath a canvas roof conjured an idealised description of what I might find”.

In this series of photographs Aloha Bonser Shaw captures the relationship between human beings and their environment by bringing together images representing the most intimate moments of life and of the local natural landscape. This way the viewer can have a closer look at an alternative way of living where the love for the land brings people together.