Portray Madrid to make it eternal: "Casa de Campo or Cercedilla is just as iconic as a Sunday in a shopping center"

• Photography When the elephants crossed Cibeles

• Culture Santos Yubero, the rogue, traditional and captivating photographer: Indalecio Prieto got him out of jail, Carmen Polo adored him

• Documentary The extinct Madrid revives in a hidden gem of cinema

If any landscape and all photography testify to perfection, it is the dissolution of time.

And it is so ruthless, as the philosopher

said , because both reflect the perpetual mutability of organisms.

For this reason, capturing the environment through a photographic camera also has some conservation, of treasuring what is seen as valuable heritage.

It is precisely what distinguishes the

, directed by the

and the

.

Still in process, it promises to bring together, for the first time in history, a mammoth archive of

about the Madrid region, faithful to the style of the mythical European missions, which will be exhibited to the public at the El Águila complex at the beginning of next year.

"A landscape is not just that typical postcard, but its material and immaterial values ​​are also there. It is not only beauty that defines the landscape, but also what you see reflected in your signs of identity," defends Mónica Luengo.

Thus, promoted by the

of the Community of Madrid, this initiative brings together

to, like a colony of bees, compose an artistic and diverse honeycomb of the 179 municipalities.

Each professional registers six zones with an inescapable premise:

, insists Luengo, also a historian and vice president of ICOMOS Spain (International Council of Monuments and Sites).

"This phase is exciting", emphasizes Paco Gómez, who also participates with his camera in the photographic mission and has

Brea de Tajo, Estremera, Fuentidueña de Tajo, Valdaracete, Villamanrique de Tajo and Villarejo de Salvanés, located in the Las Vegas, to the southeast, and in the historic and fertile Alcarria.

"It's like a cliff and a bit unpredictable, because you are part of the collective

of 33 pieces and you try to take charge, in the best way, of

. But the conclusions will depend on the photos and that most of them work and convey something.

Lozoyuela-Navas-Sieteiglesias. BEATRIZ S. GONZÁLEZ

Coslada.ANA LOVED

Galapagar.ANA NANCE

Because, what is meant by heritage?

Far from the clichés that usually delight visitors, which would be the equivalent of photographing, perhaps, the Royal Palace or Gran Vía or waiting in line to collect a

from the rooftop of the Riu, Luengo explains: "

It is outside of stereotypes, but it is much more ours, it is where all of us who live in Madrid".

That is, any of the professionals of the

Possibly they would be interested in those swarming rows so Madrid rather than in the sunset from the top floor of the hotel.

The objective here is focused on the scenarios, but without the wide angle forgetting the inhabitants and their traditions or the trail they mark with their movement.

Culture, more than the pure physical aesthetics and the right framing.

Although Gómez supports the postcard concept -"it is very distorted"-, he summarizes: "

. What we are looking for is photographs with many layers and that in them be the landscape, the heritage and the presence of the human footprint".

From each population and from each of the 21 districts of the capital, the authors will select 10 images, after a "methodical" work that began on February 15 and will conclude in mid-July.

"We have recorded the end of winter, spring and the beginning of summer. Each photographer has had the freedom to visit the territory as many times as he wants."

In addition, the distribution has depended on their preferences or their previous domain over the neighborhoods and towns.

Thus, an image will be screened for each area, so that up to 199 stamps will be displayed.

.

For this reason, "there will be a touch screen to be able to see the 2,000 photos" of the sample,

Pezuela de las Torres.CARLA OSET

New Baztan.ADRIANA MARTINEZ

Santa Maria de la Alameda.ALFREDO CÁLIZ

Moncloa-Aravaca. EDUARDO NAVE

The value of this work also lies in its desire for detailed research and historical background.

"In the future, it may be studied by anthropologists, by people who are dedicated to landscape, intangible heritage, customs...", Gómez enumerates, based on the different perspectives of contemporary photographers.

And Luengo goes further: "We unite three lenses: that of the landscape as heritage and not as a mere physical accident; the artistic lens, which is a tremendous added value, and that of the local population, a very modern vision. And uniting the three I think It's

, it's something precious."

Because visits, workshops and conferences will be added to the future collection, of free consultation, since there is an eagerness to contrast the perspectives of the artists with the classical perceptions and with what the inhabitants conceive as their own.

"

to the monument or to the town bar, the riverside or the street. through which the procession passes".

And Gómez adds: "We have already seen the work of the first two months and it is surprising, because mythical sites are seen from another point of view or that are unknown and lead us to see the Community from another place".

To the team, of which Gómez highlights that

stands out by having 17 women and 16 men - "a novelty in photographic missions" -, he set two guidelines: the collective versus the personal lens and not neglecting who will be the snapshot consumer.

"The set must end up reflecting what the Community is like, that any person who inhabits that landscape feels reflected".

For this reason, he himself, who usually uses black and white plate cameras, has opted for another technique, and alludes to the legendary

(1912-1994).

, eventually confessed to being posed by the Frenchman himself

, avoided his style by joining, in 1985,

Guadalix de la Sierra. ELISA MIRALLES

Piñuécar-Gandullas. CARLOS LUJÁN

Serranillos del Valle. ADRIAN TYLER

Tetouan. PEDRO MAQUIEIRA

In fact, this Madrid project breathes from other crucial missions: the one documented by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) after the Great Depression in the US, which brought together

, among others, and harvested up to 180,000 negatives, or the Datar, from the years 1984-1989, with 29 international photographers, such as the Milanese

or the filmmaker

.

Later, they would also be replicated in Sweden with the Ekodok-90 mission, focused on rural changes and with ecological concerns between 1990 and 1994;

in Germany, between 1993 and 1996, to certify how the country had changed after the fall of the Wall (1989);

in Italy, with Linea di confine tracking environmental changes...

Although more modest, the aspiration of

rises up towards its European neighbors.

"Madrid has undergone tremendous transformations in the last 50 years. It is undergoing changes with greater intensity than other communities," argues Luengo.

It highlights that, despite its humble extension, it houses real sites, five World Heritage Sites, some of the most populated areas of the peninsula, industrial estates or mountain ranges and towns "of a beauty that seems lost in some remote forest of the United States United", as you have already seen in some of the photographs.

, finish.

It is what will save us from the passage of time.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Cercedilla

• Alcorcon

• Photography

• Madrid's community

• Articles Ruth Diaz