The Galician born artist, with a background in art history, and her first published photo book entitled ‘Random Pictures Book’, Calls herself a ‘visual hoarder’ finding fascination in human behaviour. We talk to the artist about her photography; the influence of Instagram on her work, and her newest endeavour documenting the lives of nuns.

Hola, tell us a bit about yourself.
My name’s Cristina and I come from a small town in the South of Galicia, called Pontevedra. I like to take pictures and videos of everything surrounding me, when I feel I need to, which can be 24/7. Even though I wasn’t raised in an artistic environment or in contact with art, I always had the tendency, since I was very young, to either make music or engage with photography. I decided to study a degree in Art History in Santiago de Compostela; I wanted to do something artistic but I wasn't sure what (something my parents have never been fond of). I’ve always liked art theory and I always considered photography my hobby, and something I’d never really work with, up until 2 years ago, when my first book was published.

How did you get into photography?
Its something that’s always been with me. I remember as a kid I’d steal my family’s cameras and I had a mini polaroid that I’d take everywhere with me. I loved taking photos of my friends. This summer I found a bunch of photos I took when I was 7 in school trips or parties, and my first pictures of strangers in the street! Haha, even my first selfie! I've always considered it a game; but when I was studying everyone expected me to be a photographer. Even now, I don’t take it too seriously. It’s like a game, and sometimes it’s hard to get out of that personal/intimate mindset… Lately I’ve been working a bit in fashion and I find it hard to commercialise what I do, but it’s also necessary. It’s a new avenue to learn from.

In what way has Instagram influenced your creative practice?
Instagram has helped me define my style; to capture what I do ,and figure out how to portray myself and what I do. It’s also helped me define myself, or be defined by others; I prefer it that way, and it’s helped me a lot because I really like it when people come to their own conclusions about what I do and when they tell how a video or a photo speaks to them. There’s always interesting comments and that daily connection is really cool.

How would you describe your artistic style?
My style… I’m not sure; I’ve been described in many ways. I capture day to day events through photos or instagram stories. Through whichever format, I like to use what I see; the people, my environment in general, what i see every day like anyone else… the important thing is to stop and observe, it’s a bit of a meditation exercise for me…

I’m like a visual hoarder, everything is very fast and anxiety-inducing. I sometimes feel the need to stop myself in a certain moment that I know will never happen again. Human-beings fascinate, but also disturb me. It’ll always be the object of study in my work. I’ve been called a “documentary artist”, but I prefer to call myself a “situationist”: I create and recreate a situation, intervene, and enjoy it. I also like to decontextualise what i see; play with reality… Just to show my personal vision like anyone else, with or without a camera, you’ll always absorb and transfer what’s around you.

How do different environments change the way you engage with new subjects?
I need to travel, expand and interchange experiences, capture new energies… When I’ve travelled and photographed different people, the paradigm doesn't change much. I love travelling and I love the unknown, not knowing where I’ll end up or who I’ll meet. I would like to continue finding new realities and capturing them through photography or through whatever medium, until I die. It’s really important for your mind and heart, for everyone, no matter if you consider yourself an artist or not.

You’ve published your own photo book entitled ‘Random Pictures Book’. Tell us about the concepts you worked with in creating your book.
Yeah! I’m really happy with how the book was received, I published and edited it with Terranova, working with Luis Cerveró, a visual narrative genius, who really knows how to put an idea onto paper. I learned a lot and I’m really thankful for the opportunity he gave me. With this book i just wanted to transmit how we consume images nowadays; how phone photography has infiltrated itself and impacted the world of photography, allowing new textures, formats and facilities that a conventional camera can’t.

I wanted it to be an ode to that, because I myself stopped carrying around a digital camera I’d bought when i was 16 because I preferred taking phone pictures. It’s also an ode to my context, my generation; we use our phones all the time, never have there been so many photos being taken like now. I think it’s coherent to accept mobile photography as valid as any other (unlike a few years ago). In this discourse I also wanted to give a nod to Instagram; it’s format and visual torrent. It’s something I really like and work with ,giving it different values, either chromatic, chronological… but often altered. For me, it’s as important as the photography itself. I think websites are a bit outdated. immediacy reigns in our generation; an instagram account is enough to show your work. The book is a materialisation of these ideas, and its also basically a printed version of my Instagram; something I found quite fun and told Luis about.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I’m going to release some posters with Terranova, something I had proposed a year ago, but I’m very slow hahaha. I’d also suggested the idea of creating merchandise; I’m a big fan of museum merch; the tackiness of capitalism in art. I really enjoy it. I want to play with more formats. Bit by bit I’m releasing stuff; I show it in my Instagram stories. I’m also preparing a personal project about nuns, in memory of my great aunt who was a nun and died a few years ago. I never had the chance to take photos of her and its a world that I was always fascinated by. I’m just getting on bit by bit. I wish I had a patron or something so I could do more stuff, because right now i don’t even have a decent camera. Sometimes the lack of tools prevents you from doing things that you have in your head, and thats shit, but let's work on that!