The Three Corners of the Ocean — Claudia López Ortega
Since our first meeting in Mexico, it took quite a while for this project to turn from a dummy into a proper book but we never stopped believing in it and kept it in our dark closet as a hidden gem. And now we are more than happy to finally say: the first photobook by the Mexican photographer Claudia López Ortega The Three Corners of the Ocean is out now!
There is also a Special Edition with a print.
"This project is about love and the touch of madness in my experience of motherhood.
In my family, there are things that are impossible to talk about – although you have been able to sense them since you were a child. There are secrets and looks. There are questions about our female lineage that are never addressed. The silence speaks louder than words.
Victoria, my daughter, dared to take a risk and accompanied me into this travesty to express, in her own way, all the feelings rooted deep inside generations of our family.
She let me know how sad, lonely and distant she felt from me, just as I felt as a child with my mother and as she felt in turn with my grandmother.
These are the three corners of the ocean."
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The book is split in two parts. The first part, bound to the front cover & wrapped in a sunny yellow/ orange foil, is a trouble-less view of the family, its front and bright side, as it were, yet with a melancholic touch. The second part, bound to the back cover & featuring many more images, including some of those in the first part, is a much more comprehensive view deep down. Something that is hardly ever seen to the outsider’s eye. Black lists of wounds, drawings, archival pictures, ironic cut outs from retro magazines – all give a broader context to the relationship of the three women in one family and help re-contextualize familiar scenes in a different way.
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Shortlisted for FOTO WIEN Photobook Award 2022
Photo-eye's Favourite Photobooks 2022
Shortlisted for Bird in Flight Prize ‘21
Review by L'Intervalle, Fabien Ribery (FR)
Review on Photoartbooks / Mireia Alises (SP)
"The book’s design, done by Calin Kruse, shows Kruse as a master of the photobook form. Kruse’s ability to make a powerful book (when supplied the right images) increases
with each offering from dienacht."Christopher Johnson, photo-eye Bookstore
Special Edition of The Three Corners of the Ocean includes the signed book and the limited edition print from the series, featured in the book. The print is signed and numbered on the back, printed in an edition of 10 copies, 20 x 30 cm, on Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta 325 g/m². You can choose between the three prints: "Untitled #1" (portrait), "Untitled #2" (girl in the water), Untitled #3 (mermaid)
If you already have the book and want a print, please drop us an e-mail.
About Claudia López Ortega
Claudia has a special interest in exploring the themes of identity, motherhood, gender as well as the effects of affection. She is combining fiction and reality trying to capture moments in suspended space. Born in Torreón Coahuila, Mexico in 1979; lives and works in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico.
Linen flex cover with photo application and foil blocking
Two books printed on feltmarked (structured) paper,
18 x 24 cm, 108 pages in total + 2 inlays and notes
Including different colour papers and a coloured transparent vinyl sleeve
Edition of 500 copies
42 €
Please choose: