Vendredi 24 Octobre 2014 11:32:30 par actuphoto dans

Anastasia Photo is pleased to present Spanish photographer Guillermo Cervera’s first solo exhibition in New York. The exhibition will include selections from twenty years of documenting armed conflict and social issues globally as well as work featured in the upcoming HBO’s documentary, THE LAST PATROL.

Cervera has covered major world events including the Bosnian War in 1993, the Tamil Tigers separatist militant movement during Sri Lanka’s Civil War in 2008, the rise of capitalism in communist Cuba, the Libyan and Egyptian uprisings in 2011 and daily life in Afghanistan. This year he has covered the war in Ukraine and the latest conflict between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip.

In November, Cervera will be featured in HBO’s THE LAST PATROL, where he and two combat veterans join award-winning journalist and filmmaker Sebastian Junger as they embark on a walk along the train tracks from Washington, D.C. up the East Coast. Making their way through ghettos, suburbs, farms and woods in multiple trips spanning a year, the film offers an intimate look as they set out to “get to know America again” while attempting to heal their war wounds by sharing adventures, laughs and insights from their time overseas. The film debuts on Monday, November 10th exclusively on HBO.

Growing up in Madrid, Cervera first discovered the joy of photography when he discovered a box of Playboy magazines that his father had brought back from a sojourn in the United States. “They were beautiful color pictures and I looked at them when my father wasn’t home. Then my father learned what I was doing and he emptied the box of Playboys and replaced them with National Geographic. ”It was in those old magazines that he first glimpsed pictures of surfing that left him awe-struck. “I dreamed about those pictures at night,” he said. “I wanted to do that.”

© Guillermo Cervera

Cervera eventually began surfing but did not pursue photography immediately. Instead, he came to the United States to study aerospace engineering. While in college, he discovered that photography had a calming effect on him. Restless by nature, he would emerge relaxed after hours in the darkroom. He had returned to Madrid in the early 1990s when a writer friend suggested they go to Bosnia to cover the conflict. He sold his motorcycle and headed off with his cameras. He and his friend stayed for two weeks before returning to Spain but Cervera soon found himself headed back to the war. “I was fascinated by it,” he said. “How could human beings in Europe, with all our resources, resort to such insanity. I wanted to understand that.”

© Guillermo Cervera

Cervera’s photographs are regularly published in The New York Times, Newsweek, Marie Claire, The Guardian, Paris Match, Rolling Stone, ABC, El Pais, MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal and have been exhibited in galleries in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain.

Anastasia Photo specializes in documentary photography and photojournalism. The gallery space also serves as a center for discussion and portfolio review. With every exhibition Anastasia Photo makes a donation to a charitable organization associated with the photographer’s subject matter. For this exhibition, we have chosen to support RISC, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency medical training and equipment free of cost to experienced, published, freelance journalists who work in dangerous areas. www.risctraining.org

Anastasia Photo is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 7pm and Sunday 11am to 6pm. For further information or questions please contact Jennifer Samuel at 212-677-9725 or jennifer@anastasia-photo.com.