Carles Roig: “La Rotonda radiates its memory and you become aware of its different uses, its life, and that of the people who inhabited it”

With 35 years of experience under his belt, Carles Roig is a living witness to the technological transformation experienced by the world of photography. A self-taught professional and educator, he founded la retrateria, a physical and multidisciplinary space set up as a photo studio, classroom, workshop, exhibition space, or meeting place. One of his latest projects has been the creation of six murals that decorate the corridor of each floor of La Rotonda. Quite a challenge, as he had never before worked on pieces over two meters in size.

On their website, they describe themselves as self-taught. How did they learn and how did their passion for photography develop?

I would add: self-taught in two ways, both analog and digital. About 35 years ago, I was captivated by the magic of photography, the power of light and shadows, both when obtaining a negative and later in the darkroom when trying to get the 'copy' of what was photographed. It was necessary to master the technique, and that required practice, perseverance, and a great deal of patience. Working with photographers like Miguel Nauguet, Joan Tomàs, or Alfonso Zirpoli was fundamental. Very soon I became aware that beyond technical correctness, there was a whole world to explore. Photography became a mode of expression, a personal and non-transferable way of seeing. The genuine gaze of painters and photographers, as well as literature, have always been and continue to be a source of knowledge and inspiration.

And how did you make the leap to digital?

Well, it's been 15 years since I started to adapt, practicing more, that's for sure, without so much magic and sometimes losing patience. Despite the differences, it wasn't so much an adaptation in terms of the photographic capture but in the processing and subsequent storage of the images: that is, in the use of a new technology that continues to evolve at a dizzying pace today.

In what way?

Just a fact: in 2003 a photo barely 'weighed' 1 megabyte. Each of the final images that I have created for their installation in the La Rotonda building 'weighs' 4 Gigabytes. Beyond the incredible possibilities offered by advanced software programs, creativity and cultural background remain essential for developing personal projects as well as for carrying out commercial or educational ones.

Let's go back to the beginning. Were they tough?

In my case, it would be more appropriate to speak of a certain precariousness of resources, but this was greatly outweighed by a lot of energy, hope, fascination, eagerness to learn, to work, to practice. Deep down, I was applying a method that over the years has proven to be infallible: the trial and error method... and I continue to use it, although now, with the benefits of experience and maturity.

Don't you find it curious that a self-taught individual ends up being a teacher?

Not at all. And not just because it's my case and that of many colleagues in the profession. I do not defend the idea that being a good professional is enough to enter a classroom and give a master class. To be a good educator, in addition to professional mastery, it is essential to have the ability to convey experience and acquired knowledge and above all to stimulate and know how to motivate those eager to assimilate it. It has been amply demonstrated that, with or without degrees, there are people capable (others not so much) of teaching in a splendid and respectable manner.

Was it from that experience that you decided to found La Retratería?

Initially, the portrait studio was just an idea. But it became a physical space, with the aim of providing photographic services, developing artistic and educational projects both personally and collaboratively. In a multidisciplinary way, from a standpoint of independence and creative freedom. With a critical (and self-critical) attitude. With commitment, dignity, and respect for people. Depending on its use, the portrait studio is alternately a photographic studio, classroom, workshop, exhibition space, meeting place...

How would you define your work?

Perhaps like a long-distance race? I feel more comfortable in complexity where different disciplines and/or genres blend. This has to do with my determination to avoid labels: I try to respond intuitively and with the same creative spirit to all my projects. Without distinction. I have used the camera as a tool to connect with the world and to understand myself and others. In any case, I suppose that the collection of photographs and images produced translate who I am and who I am not.

Commercial projects, development of educational projects, personal work... Which one do you find most fulfilling?

I have enjoyed memorable sessions and others to forget. I have carried out personal projects that I am proud of and others that will never see the light of day. However, there has not been a single educational project that hasn't given me more than I could offer: I hold a special and dear memory of all of them.

How does the opportunity to photograph La Rotonda arise?

From the architecture studio of Alfredo Arribas, through Xavier Franquesa, I was proposed to develop a project for the creation of six large murals on each floor of the renovated La Rotonda building

Your confidence in my way of working and the creative freedom granted convinced me to accept the challenge: I had never before made pieces of such size (210 cm x 280 cm)

The murals display compositions with various detailed views of the small temple. What has been the creative process?

Indeed. Each mural's image is a composite. From the beginning, it was clear what the raw material for the final images would be: the modernist pavilion. And that was the starting point: to photograph, over two days, exhaustively all its elements, the trencadís, the columns, the dome, the gargoyles from the most varied viewpoints, capturing the light effects that occur from sunrise to sunset.

Subsequently, I worked for weeks until I achieved the desired results: each image is the sum of many others that merge, complement each other, and overlap in most cases deliberately, but incorporating chance as an important factor. The use of negative images is a nod to analog photography. The careful balance between the different elements, the transparencies, the lights and shadows, the silhouettes, and above all the color range, gives the collection a sense of unity while the images retain their character and uniqueness. All this led to a second commission for the entrance of the building where a sequence made up of fragments of the six images will be installed, backlit by a large lightbox measuring 150 cm x 800 cm.

What did the building convey to you during your work?

Perhaps in a more conceptual than physical way, the building radiates its memory and you become aware of its different uses, its life, and that of the people who inhabited it. My work has revolved around a very recognizable and characteristic element of Barcelona. Throughout my life, I saw the small temple at street level and now I could access it.

I have really thought more in terms of the future: creating evocative images that possess that desirable timeless quality for pictures displayed in public spaces and that, if possible, in addition to making the stay of their users pleasant, have content.

For someone accustomed to working with people, has it been different working with spaces?

Spaces don't usually insidiously tell you how bad they will look in a photo (laughs). I love taking portraits but I must admit that I am very satisfied with the final result of this photographic project: both the images and their integration into the space. Whether it's people, places, buildings, situations, objects of any condition or dimension, in the end, photographers do nothing but reiterate the idea of "look how I saw it".
Isn't that what at this very moment hundreds of millions of people around the world are trying to "say" through social media?