Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu  //  A gypsy life: The Salazar family
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Fields:  Photojournalism
 
"My interest in approaching the gypsies was exactly that. I mean there's a lot of clichés about the Gypsies. In the Spanish culture, I mean we live with them and they're part of our society, but they have never been integrated. So Gypsies have, you know, tags. Like people would talk about them as thieves or people you can't trust. So most of the time when I choose a project like that it's because I wanna see what's behind those stereotypes. The family I've worked with for five years don't respond to those stereotypes at all. They're actually you know, very beautiful, amazing people, that every time I go to a home, takes care of me. You know, they're sort of like me. It's not a money-based religion at all, which you know, that's part of … They're mostly nomad, merchants, vendors. That's what they know, that's their culture. So they're always buy and sell, buy and sell. So it's very hard to have a relationship with them, you know. But it's not about that."


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The patriarch;Juan Antonio Salazar

The patriarch;  Juan Antonio Salazar

 
Sara at home

Sara at home

 
Erica playing.

Erica playing.

 
Sara and José.

Sara and José.

 
Xenoa in her father'shands.

Xenoa in her father's  hands.

 
Joselito's first smoke

Joselito's first smoke

 
The fifteen years old cousins: Susana, Roc�o and Susi.

The fifteen years old cousins: Susana, Roc�o and Susi.

 
The dance

The dance

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHORT EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW:
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Your Gypsies and Spanish Harlem work is in black and white, and The Tompkins is in color. How do you choose between the two?


ADRIANA: Black and white is timeless. And it allows you to concentrate more on what's happening in the moment more than the other details of the colors. Color is very sensual, so it's very distracting. And sometimes of course it's justified and you need to photograph in color because that color adds something to that concept of the story. But for me, when I've been working on these like social stories, I would say, and peoples' stories, I think that black and white helps to focus more on the emotion and the feelings and the relationships.

See full interview here