Not About Lockdown
LAST AVAILABLE BOOKS!
On 26 July 2020 Alex Llovet landed with his wife and two daughters in Bristol, UK. Because of COVID-19, a few hours earlier the British government had imposed a fourteen-day quarantine on citizens from various countries, including Spain.
Llovet took all the images in this work during his confinement in an old isolated house in the middle of the woods in Cornwall, an idyllic place where his parents-in-law live. With his camera, the author questions the limits between reality and fiction, and manages to capture our most intimate fears and hopes arising from this global crisis, sublimating the everyday life of his family to reveal realities beyond appearances.
In his own words: "In a context as dystopian as it was disconcerting, the act of taking photographs became a poetic refuge from which to palliate the effects of the lack of freedom, because even paradise can become a prison if you are forced to remain in it".
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Specifications
First edition: 400 copies
Photographs, editing and design: Alex Llovet
Pre-press: Josep Maria de Llobet
15 x 20 cm
44 duotone photographs + 4 in colour
92 pages
Printing: Estudios Durero
Paperback binding with stamping and cloth on the spine
Texts by Alex Llovet in English, French and Spanish
Publication date: 1 March 2021
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Awards / Press
- "A brilliant impression of how so many of us are coping during the pandemic." - Amy Keller, photo editor at The New York Times.
- "A wonderful document of this peculiar moment." - Alec Soth, photographer.
- "Beautiful! I really like the mood and the narrative with the chicken coop going through the book." - Bryan Schutmaat, photographer and editor.
- A refreshing take on a most unusual year. Congratulations." - Simon Roberts, visual artist.
- "This little book is a gem. Totally in love with it." - Gabriela Cendoya, collector.
-"Probably the recent photobook that has touched my emotional fiber the most. [ ] I am moved, above all, by its ability to express through images, feelings that we all believe our own and non-transferable. Also by its visual approach, with an exquisite elegance and sensitivity. Each and every one of the 44 black and white images in this book are monochromatic visual poems. Nothing is lacking here, nor is it gratuitous. [ ] With this, he achieves that what is particular, its people, acquires a universal character, with which we can all feel identified. His pictures transcend the anecdote and reach the category, which is within the reach of very few looks.” - Rafa Badía, photographer and editor
- "A wonderful book." - Paco Gómez, editor.
- "The image (of the kid behind the painting) made me think of the different aspects of what “family“ is: identity, memory, legacy, heritage, reassurance, but also pressure and expectations. I thought of these aspects long after looking at the picture. In fact, we even discussed them over dinner. The stories we are told of our ancestors are not so much based in the truth, but are rather designed to build family narratives. I found that realization to be liberating — and quite an achievement for a single photograph." - Robert Morat, founder of the Robert Morat Gallery.
- reFocus World Photo Annual Awards - Silver for Best Portrait 2023
- Life Framer (Youthhood) - Winner 2022
- LensCulture Critics Choice - Best Single Image 2021
- Life Framer (Humans Of The World), Honorary mention 2021
- Best Photography Books List 2021 - Anzenberger Gallery, Viena
- Best Photography Books List 2021 - Gabriela Cendoya, San Sebastián
- CORTONA ON THE MOVE in collaboration with LENS CULTURE - Selected as part of the ongoing permanent archive on the coronavirus pandemic "The COVID-19 Visual Project. A Time of Distance.", conceived and produced by Cortona On The Move in partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo."