Finally in my hands printed my first photographic project which was made when I lived in San José, Costa Rica around 2016.
At that time I was 21 years old and I was just starting my photography career in that country. I remember being inordinately obsessed with post-war Japanese masters, some like Moriyama and Nakahira, and the “Provoke” magazine phenomenon. It may be that this piece takes some of that as reference, or it may not.
The images in the book are material obtained after a series of random dives and drifts over 2 years through the streets of downtown San José, portraying with impact the street rawness experienced at the time, along with all those people with passionate lives - its passers-by.
I owe the title to a verse by the Costa Rican poet and writer Virginia Grütter, which I borrowed from the poem entitled “Punishment I”, the fragment reads:
«Girando en el parque negro.
Todos son muros.
Muro el piso de tierra.
Muros los Muros.»
Muros
los Muros
Man standing in front of the OIJ building near Cuesta de Moras in San José (SJ). The OIJ is the institution in charge of criminal investigations in Costa Rica.
Bystanders enjoying a street performance. SJ is home to over 1,482,000 residents: an estimated of 741,000 men and 741,000 women.
Construction personnel working on one of the towers at a soon-to-be residential building near los Yoses in SJ center.
A lamp post lighting the incoming night at a park in Curridabat.
Public parking spaces such as this one are a frequent landscape in the center. There's a storm incoming.
Dog ornaments outside a supermarket in San Pedro.
Three pedestrians sitting in park La Merced, just in front of the bus station. It has the particularity that nicaraguans tend to use this parc as their meeting point in the city center.
An amrless mannequin kid left abandoned.
A stand of cacti covering a shopping mall's neon sign at Plaza del Sol, Curridabat.
An eleder woman selling lottery tickets in the Segunda Avenida. (Second Ave.) one of SJ's busiests streets.
Ruins of an old building.
The rests of an old car found as a junk in the suburbs.
A police man searching a young boy for any illegal substance or weapon.
A street animator on her free time checking her cellphone.
Kids getting out of school on a typical afternoon.
A construction worker gazing at the city while taking a break on a soon to be residential building.
People exchanging glances at the bus station.
An eleder looking out the window on a bus ride to the center.
A tomb being reformed at Cementerio General de San José. This is the main cemetery in San José and is known for its historical significance and ornate tombs.
Workers moving their tools into their transportations.
A man entering the church of Our Lady of Solitude in downtown SJ.
A little girl requests to go down on a bus stop.
A street vendor selling his art in one of SJ main avenues.
A kid throwing gun signs at the camera.
A police man cleans the street after the pride parade.
A blind man taking a rest.
An elder speaking with the paramedics inside an ambulance parked outside the San Juan de Dios hospital.
Stree life at Segunda Avenida tends to be very busy at all times of the day.
An elder and an infant waiting at the San Juan de Dios queue. Costa Rica's public health system has an extensive coverage of more than 90% of the total population.
A discussion turns heated outside the ER of the San Juan de Dios hospital.
A crowd waiting for the major of SJ to adress the pride parade.
A man stands looking at the electrodomestic shop while walking with a rat on his head.
A phone call with a view outside the building of Correos de Costa Rica.
Two friends walking side by side down the street.
A body resting from the midday sun in the bushes of Parque Morazán, one of SJ most frequented parks.
A man lies on a cardboard piece with a pair of scissors.
An icecream sculpture in San Pedro.
A kid selling pride memorabilia in a stand.
A man playing sudoku in the night bus near Curridabat.
A street bridge at night in Santa Ana.
Lovers kissing passionately outside a classroom of the UCR, Costa Rica's most remarkable university.
A man walking at night in Barrio Amón is being watched by other pedestrians.
A bar's front man taking care of the local in downtown SJ.
A sign outside a nightclub.
Portait of don Jose Carrillos in the Morazan Parc by night.
La Cali is one of the favorite streets by young people for the party scene by night. The sign in this picture translates to "Rampage at the Motel".
Inside an antiquiary.
An elder woman watches her shop at closing hours.
A man walks with an umbrella in the Central Avenue of San Jose.