CARTAGENA, Alejandro - Santa Barbara Return Jobs Back to US

Background information

In the mid-2010s, the United States of America / USA was shaken by a large number of assassinations.

Content, book reviews

"Many of the photographs in the photo volume 'Santa Barbara return jobs back to US' by Alejandro CARTAGENA are not 'about' anything per se, but their tone, viewed together, leaves little mystery. His 'America', seen through the lens of Santa Barbara, is a place hanging by a thread. There are several images in the photo book 'Santa Barbara return jobs back to US', looking down on the street and taken from high up in a building somewhere. In other, happier times, I might like their dynamic perspective. 'Wow, these are cool', I might think. But in the context of 2016, I couldn't help but imagine the photographer as a lone, embittered gunman looking at his next victim through a rifle scope, anxious to pull the trigger and bring the drama to its natural conclusion. (© Jonathan Blaustein)Spezification
In the out-of-print photographic volume 'Santa Barbara return jobs back to US', Mexican photographer Alejandro CARTAGENA (...) "walks the streets of Santa Barbara, California, to unportray the place and bring more questions than answers in his description of the world-famous city.  He voluntarily steers clear of Californian stereotypes, his late-night poking around and attention to banal detail questioning the legitimacy for the privilege its inhabitants proclaim, turning the limbo town into a dubious purgatory. In the current political turmoil and the uncertain future of immigrants in the United States, Alejandro CARTAGENA uses the spiritual power of Santa Barbara (the saint) to question the economic power of Santa Barbara (the city) in a beautiful photobook and with a very dynamic sequence." (freely translated text, © Cristina de MIDDEL, in: photo-eye Blog, 2016)

Additional information

The book design of the photo volume 'Santa Barbara return jobs back to US' was created by Alejandro CARTAGENA in collaboration with the publisher and designer Milo MONTELLI; the volume was edited by Alejandro CARTAGENA in cooperation with Cristina Kennington and Fernando Gallegos. The text introduction was provided by Jonathan Blaustein.

About Mexican photographer, Alejandro CARTAGENA (b.1977)

Photo books by Alejandro CARTAGENA