Cristobal Traslaviña

Photographer

Family album or travel log. A visual narration from a disappointed and marginal view of over 15 years. Pull my eyes out and you will see filth inside. I am born from the fascist dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and a democracy that never came. I was born and raised in a hostile and violent place; no one ever gave us anything. The only thing we got was eating shit, a police state, drugs as anesthetics, mothers crying, hate and discrimination. From that place and posture starts my work. A pessimistic look of the world. I saw how they took our spirit away and the justice reports say that we had a natural death. Rather, you can see the bodies of your people ravaged by despair and your mother, or grandmother, cut their arms to provide something to eat. Photography is not reality; it is a fiction of it. Moreover, it is my way of looking at the world. My work is a fragmented story by drugs, jail, poverty, juvenile delinquency, death of friends, imprisonment of friends, family, lovers, failed rehabs, and the streets. Everything with a background of the province of El Bosque in Santiago where I was born and Valparaiso where I live. Places in ruins, falling apart and reminding us, deep in ourselves, that we are orphans. The photographic background of my work is mainly analog (6 x 6 mm, 35 mm, Polaroid, films super 8) due to its dirtiness. Analog photography allows me to tell my story from its mistakes, this concept is closer to life; my life.