Among the pines
People have inhabited the forests of Catalunya since the Palaeolithic era. Among the pines, we can find Neolithic dolmens, megaliths, and petroglyphs. Research into Iberian Neolithic societies indicates a notable presence of males in graphic art and burial practices, which suggests that gender inequalities date back to this period[1].
Between 2018 and 2021, I moved from the UK to Catalunya. As I stepped away from my own culture and watched my daughter grow up in an unfamiliar community, I began a process of personal reflection. During this time, I recognized the power of cultural practices and global influences that pressure children to conform to traditional gender ideals and the resulting issues and vulnerabilities stemming from this ideology.
This work is a photographic collaboration with the local teenage boys within the forest and amongst the ruins of the past. In their period of transformation from boy to man, the young people reflect on their identity and their place in the world. They transform the space into a ritualising theatre, a place for them to escape, hang out and play out life’s dramaturgy.
[1] Cintas-Peña, M., & García Sanjuán, L. (2019). ‘Gender Inequalities in Neolithic Iberia’, European Journal of Archaeology, 22(4), pp. 499-522.
