Director Jokin Azpuru has assured that Getxo’s international photography festival has come a long way in its trajectory. Created seven years ago by the association of photographers Begihandi, and although there is another festival in Euskal Herria, such as the Andoain Photography Festival and the Periscope of Vitoria, it has become an inescapable quote for fans. “During these years we have been in constant search and development. Little more or less like ours in terms of the use of public space or new media. In addition, we set aside minorities and headed for a broad audience.” However, these public exhibitions are not installed everywhere, they usually choose the leisure spaces of the locality. Ereaga Beach, Basagoiti pedestrian street, Plaza San Nicolás or Puerto Viejo de Algorta become showcase of these photographs. “We demand a different use of these public spaces,” says Azpuru.

Commissioner Christian Caujolle was elected in this year’s edition, and the programming of the next three is also in his hands. He has chosen the theme of the coming years, Other Worlds. In this sense, the photographers who will take part in the event will immerse themselves in the world of dreams.

Caujolle is a member of the World Press Photo court and runs, inter alia, the PhotoPhnom Penh room in Cambodia.

Wagering on youth

Getxophoto mainly brings together European and American photographers, but highlights Commissioner Caujolle’s commitment to Asian photographers. On the other hand, he knows the field well. As for age, Jokin Azpuru tells us that “we try to seek balance”, “on the one hand, we try to attract top-level photographers, but despite not being so known, Caujolle has also programmed large projection photographers.” Azpuru tells us the case of Harit Srikhao, a 17-year-old Thai photographer, who has recently been arrested. Srikhao lives in Bangok and, following the 2009 coup d'état, he had to make 10 km back home, on a long night of immersion. It brings us the series Familiar Things, which tells us this route so hard and dangerous.

In addition to the photographic exhibition, Getxophoto has organized several activities for the first weekend of September. As a novelty this year, an activity has been organized on 30 August under the name of Itxialdia. Throughout the day, meetings, talks and workshops have been organized among photographers. The participating photographers include: Jordi Socias (former graphic editor of El País Weekly); Monica Allende (graphic editor of Sunday Times Magazine); photographer Cristina de Middel; the galerist Blanca Berlin; or Aitor Ortiz (Basque photographer); or Iñaki Domingo and Luis Díaz www.30y3.com, responsible for the web dedicated to contemporary photography. On the other hand, it should be noted that the unpublished archive of the Basque photographer from the beginning of the twentieth century Jesús de Etxebarria will also be shown.

Christian Caujolle finds it particularly interesting how Getxophoto leverages public space. On the other hand, “the three-year deadline helps to work things better.” French photographers stand out in the programming made by Caujoll, but the Commissioner is well aware of the Asian world and for that reason, this year’s edition will also see the work of young photographers from China, Thailand and Burkina Faso. “The wager on young people is not stupid, because at the end of the day it is in their hands the most current aspect of photography. I have tried to look for new directions in image creation,” explains Caujoll. “Creating these imaginary images is a way to transform reality. Because photography is a testimony to reality, but in no case objective.”

The similarities between the authors programmed in this edition are great, but above all “they are authors who speak and reflect on the contemporary world today”, according to Caujolle.

“I am interested in the authors who question or question our current world. Identity, the relationship with the city or with the urban environment, the body, consumption or exchange are the topics they address,” said the commissioner. On the other hand, the aesthetic curiosity of the Aragonese participating in Getxophoto is linked to the use of color. “If made in black and white, they would not be the same, they would not provoke the same reaction or the same reflection. The current photographer has a color resource, they like to compose with color. And that is clear in this year’s Getxophoto edition.”