The La Tegala Socio-Cultural Center in Haría will host the premiere of the documentary Javier Reyes: the artisan gaze next Saturday, December 9. The film, dedicated to the 97-year-old veteran photographer from Haría, can be enjoyed at 7:00 p.m. at the La Tegala Socio-Cultural Center in Haría.
The audiovisual document is produced by the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and directed by VeintinueveTrece, and the presentation ceremony is organized by the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of Haría.
Javier Reyes: the artisan gaze is a tribute to Javier Reyes Acuña (Haría, 1926), who for almost 30 years, between approximately 1943 and 1972, alternated various jobs with the professional practice of photography, thanks to a studio set up in his house, in the same square of his hometown, a few meters from where the documentary will premiere.
Throughout those three decades, Reyes captured the daily life of the inhabitants of the towns in the north of the island of Lanzarote and the islets of the Chinijo Archipelago, showing an unusual skill in reflecting, with truthfulness, humanity and closeness, the customs, traditions and experiences of its neighbors.
The result is a photographic collection made up of more than 16,000 negatives, which makes up one of the most important legacies of the visual, cultural, artistic, historical and anthropological heritage of Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
From 2013, after more than 30 years abandoned, and thanks to the generosity of Javier Reyes and his family, the Cabildo of Lanzarote began the work of digitizing and disseminating his entire archive through the Digital Memory of Lanzarote. His complete collection can be consulted in the link Digital Memory of Lanzarote.
In addition to all this, his work has aroused the interest of historians and researchers from all over the world and his work has been exhibited on his native island on repeated occasions, as well as on other Canary Islands, such as Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Palma, and outside the archipelago, in places such as Azores (São Miguel), Cape Verde (Santiago) and Madeira (Ponta do Sol).
The Councilor of the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Ascensión Toledo, has invited all interested citizens to come and see the documentary. Admission to see Javier Reyes: the artisan gaze is free, until full capacity.
