This photographic project, entitled "Saltar El Cerco", originates from the personal sensations and emotions tied to my hometown (Zamora). From as far back as I can remember up to the present day, I have experienced different stages in my relationship with the city, though most of the time I perceive and encounter emotions such as rejection or fear. On many occasions, these feelings stem from emotional phases or painful events, while at other times they arise from the yearning of a child eager to discover what lay beyond his “small and boring city” (as I used to call it).

The impulse that seized my childhood and adolescent self—the desire to escape the city and everything surrounding it—gave rise to the title of this project. In this regard, it is worth noting that Zamora is known for its imposing Roman walls that encircle the city, its literal fences. In this sense, Zamora becomes a kind of playground, a repository of memories, or a liminal space where aspects of childhood, nostalgia, and emptiness converge.

The central idea or rationale behind this photographic series lies in the need to represent both my past and present emotions associated with Zamora through photography. By means of this medium, I photograph, stage, or interact with spaces and objects that, in one way or another, bring me back to the fence. The aim is no longer only to represent the past, but rather to convey the present and mature emotion of someone who, though no longer a child, still maintains negative and ambiguous ties with his native city.

@marioopalace