Roberto de la Torre
Diabo de Cidoes, 2021
11 x 8½" Archival pigment print
6½ x 6½" Image sizeEdition of 22
Each print includes a certificate of authenticity, numbered and hand-signed by the artist.
About the Image
I make documentary work on masked rituals in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). This masked character is called, "O Diablo" (The Devil) and appears on Halloween night in a small village in Portugal. Nobody knows who wears the mask and scares the villagers around the houses. It was an ancestral ritual before the arrival of Christianity and is deeply rooted in the popular culture of the people. Photographing this mask in broad daylight is almost impossible given its secrecy, I was lucky to be able to do it.
Artist Bio
My name is Roberto de la Torre, I am a photographer born in Galicia, north-west of Spain. I have been working on documentary photography for more than 25 years, based on ancestral rituals that had a common origin throughout Europe. In my work you can see the most classic photodocumentalism of reportage but also a work with my most personal vision, where the photographic language that I develop allows the viewer the freedom to interpret a reality different from mine.