Xavier Martos (Alicante, 1963). I see the light at the same time I see my father’s camera in his hand. This is almost my first memory. I suppose that from here comes the influence of photography in my life.
I fought until I got my first camera. From this moment I tried to follow in my father’s footsteps. I went out to the street to photograph for the sheer pleasure of doing it, almost like Garry Winogrand, to perceive how my surroundings looked through the camera.
For some years I have worked as a freelancer with some magazines in Alicante and Valencia on issues of local folklore and parties.
Since the beginning of the new millennium, photography has become something more. As a teacher of mathematics, I promote, together with a classmate, a project of Mathematical Photography among our students, as well as various workshops with the aim of instilling this passion.
It was after my arrival in Madrid that I began to order ideas and I entered more into the world of photography. I become obsessed with finding my own language, my own vision of the world. This need takes me directly to the International Master’s Degree in Contemporary Photography and Personal Projects (held in EFTI, Madrid, during the years 2016 and 2017) and thus get the ideas that go around in my head to become photographic projects that, in Ultimately, they will leave me satisfied. This is where I attend different workshops with Javier Vallhonrat, Jesus Micó, Daniel Canogar, David Jiménez, Simon Norfolk, Bego Antón, María Santoyo, Vanessa Winship, Bea Martínez, Juan Valbuena, Eugenio Ampudia, Carmen Dalmau, Francisco Carpio, and a long etcetera of great professionals where I learned a lot.
All this ended with a collective exhibition “Y nuestros rostros, mi vida, breves como fotos”, curated by María Santoyo. I was also selected for the publication Exc!, nº 6. You can have a look at my projects.
My interests have always been around what happens to the human being in his day to day, every day and, above all, the extraordinary thing that daily life has. For this reason, the portrait attracts me as a way to delve into the human soul. In addition, in recent times, I have reflected a lot on memory after having found, by chance, the photographic archive of my father.
The project Black Bile has been selected as a nominee at Photowall on Photoalicante 2020 festival.
The Black Bile model photobook is on sale. If you are interested do not hesitate to contact me through the contact form.