A photograph of Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona, taken on June 14, 1979, marks the beginning of 'Street Stories'. This project comprises over 20,000 photographs taken over the past 45 years. The images showcase everyday or significant situations in various public spaces in cities or towns in Catalonia and around the world. Since last June, the project has been distinguished in the world of photography for its long duration, explained the author and photojournalist Àlex Burgaz to ACN. Born in the Catalan capital, Burgaz currently resides in Juneda (Garrigues). The main objective is to portray the "reality and evolution" of society over time and the "phenomenon of globalisation," he expressed.
The 'Street Stories' project gathers photographs showing "people or moments" ranging from the "most insignificant to more iconic" in towns and cities in Europe, the United States, and Asia, Burgaz explained. "When photographing, I seek snapshots that show the whole reality. Capturing nuances helps explain the social reality of different places, even when there are governments that want to hide it," he said.
In this sense, he hopes the project can surpass a century of history and spread even further around the world because "one of the most important objectives is to define the evolution of society everywhere and show how it converges over the years with the phenomenon of globalisation," he emphasised.
"Africa is no longer the same as it was twenty years ago or, for example, in Barcelona, you used to find very personalised shops, and now almost everything is full of franchises. These changes occur in different places, and you see how the world is becoming more unified. Portraying this evolution is very interesting," he expressed.
Furthermore, the photojournalist explained that "talking with a friend of mine, who is also a photographer, I recently realised that it is probably one of the longest-running street photography projects on record." However, "this initiative is personal and does not seek any economic purpose because it would alter its meaning and essence," he added.
Asked about the photographs that have most marked his career, Burgaz recalled the one he took of a child who was a victim of child slavery in Haiti or the one he was able to take of President Carles Puigdemont at one of the most significant moments of the process. Additionally, the project includes images of the Borges Blanques market in 1980, a pioneer street performer in Barcelona in the 1990s, a floating market in Thailand in 2001, and social conflicts between various groups and the police, among many other themes and images from around the world.
Origin and trajectory of the project
Burgaz became interested in photography as a child because his father and another relative worked as photographers and passed on their passion and knowledge to him. "I tried various styles, but what I liked most was capturing what was happening at every moment," he expressed. Moreover, on his way to school, located in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, he observed daily situations that motivated him to photograph them. Thus, in June 1979, he photographed Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona, an image that would become the starting point of 'Street Stories'.
"At first, it was like a personal diary, but I began to see the photographic evolution and note the date and place of each photograph," he commented. However, in the 1980s, he spent "a lot of time thinking about what to photograph because the number of photographs I could take was very limited due to the economic resources I had and the cost of developing the image at the time," he said.
"Initially, the annual volume of photographs was very small, between 50 and 200 a year." The project gained momentum in the late 1990s, with increased economic income and the possibility of travelling to various countries. From 2000 and especially from 2010, the number of images grew exponentially with the advent of digital photography. "Since then, I have surpassed a thousand photographs a year, and, in fact, last year I closed it with around 3,000," he detailed. Currently, about 20,000 photographs are part of the project.
Finally, Burgaz wanted to thank the help received over the past two decades from the United Photo Press and the "unconditional" support of his wife and portraitist, Aide Gutiérrez, with whom he is studying whether the project can be part of the Guinness World Records given its duration, and they have already applied for it.
