Spanish photographer Pablo Castilla has been named the laureate of the Mulhouse Photography Biennale and Mulhouse Art Contemporain joint exhibition award. His winning series, Altiplano, documents the stark, arid landscapes of southern Spain, synthesizing contemporary documentary photography with the region’s deep geological history and prehistoric archaeological significance.
The Archaeological Stratigraphy of the Altiplano
The Altiplano is not merely a desert; it is a repository of deep time. While the surface today presents a desolate, wind-swept topography, the region once supported a lush, lacustrine ecosystem. Scientific excavations in the area have unearthed the remains of extinct megafauna, including mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Most significantly, the discovery of a 1.4-million-year-old human tooth—among the earliest evidence of hominid presence in Europe—has transformed our understanding of human migration patterns.
Castilla’s work, which he began in 2015, functions as a visual intersection between these disparate layers of reality. By focusing on the fissures and subterranean caves that define the landscape, he attempts to render the invisible—the geological and spiritual residue of millions of years—tangible to the viewer. This is not traditional landscape photography; it is an exercise in stratigraphic documentation.
Data-Driven Documentary and the Preservation Mandate
His ongoing project regarding the preservation of solar observation photography highlights his focus on the longevity of visual information.
The exhibition, which premiered in mid-2025, serves as a reminder that objective documentation is never truly neutral; it is always filtered through the lens of the observer and the constraints of the medium.
For further reading on the ongoing initiatives at the Mulhouse Biennale, you can track their updates through the official event portal. The dialogue between the physical, the archaeological, and the archival remains one of the most critical frontiers in information management today.
