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PRESENTATION

Spain in the 1980s: a country in upheaval. Francisco Franco died in 1975 – the dictatorship had finally ended after 39 years. The country and its people started to enjoy new liberties and one of these people was Alberto García Alix, with his camera as his constant companion. “I never wanted to become a photographer,” he says in retrospect. But in fact, he has been taking photos of his surroundings since 1976. His father wanted him to study law, but Alberto García Alix refused and left home at the age of 20. In Spain back then it was a minor revolution against the patriarchy.

Left to his own devices he started a new life. A life full of liberties – and dark chapters. With his camera always at the ready, he photographed those around him: people on the street, motorcyclists, porno stars, drug addicts – and he was one of them for decades. “Back then, only the elite had drugs and we felt so privileged.” Alberto García Alix photographed these privileged few, many of whom have long since been dead. “Why am I still alive? Ask God!” One reason is certainly his photography which has provided him with a living since the mid-1980s. Today, Alberto García Alix is still mainly interested in people who lead excessive lives – people like himself. His passion and purpose in life is to photograph them – and it is also an inner compulsion