Seville is probably the hottest city in Europe; for most of the summer, temperatures remain above 40ºC. In the summer months, the locals avoid going out during the hottest part of the day. Only tourists with a thirst for sightseeing dare to take on the hot Sevillian summer.
Late in the afternoon, as twilight approaches, Sevillians began to mix with the foreigners when the temperature gives some respite. Many keep to the shade as they walk, but some areas offer no shelter and gestures of heat seem to become gestures of anxiety.
'42º C' shows passers-by emerging from the shadows into the light at precisely that orange dividing line where the scorching luminescence of summer splits in two -light and shadow- the streets of Seville, where the two join in battle every afternoon.
People crossing through the bright suffocating heat of 42 degrees centigrade (108º F) interact with each other through gestures and inquiring glances. Summer’s combatants, they have coincided at the exact vertex which separates what the shadows hide and the light makes visible. Their figures trace the lines of a sort of sweltering urban geometry composed of the elements of photography: light and shadow. The suspended thickness of asphyxiating heat is made sweaty flesh, not only in a forlorn gesture, but also in the very contrast and violent explosion of light.
This work weas awarded with Nuevo talento FNAC de Fotografia 2012 (FNAC 2012 Photography New Talent)
