DOWN THE GARDEN PATH

Down the Garden Path is an ongoing photographic series exploring Galicia’s historical memory of Francoism through vernacular narratives of political repression in Galicia, combining documentary, staged scenes and archival images.

Down the Garden Path is an ongoing photographic series that explores Spain’s historical memory of Francoism through the vernacular narratives of political repression in the specific region of Galicia, Spain.

Galicia, the birthplace of Franco, was one of the first territories to fall into the hands of the Nationalists in 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War. It subsequently became a testing ground for the Franco regime’s methods of repression, which were later generalized across Spain under increasingly brutal practices. Since the end of the dictatorship and the establishment of democracy in Spain, a political omertà was imposed in the country, making any testimony invisible. However, a spirit of civil resistance still leads a determined struggle to recognize the victims and exhume the regime’s crimes.

This project emerged from my anxiety about contemporary resurgent fascism, and from my great-grandfather's stories - he lived to 103. Known in his village for opposing Francoism, he built a garden shack with a bed, provisions, and a rifle. He slept there to avoid nighttime arrests, having drilled a peephole in the door - not just for observation, but to aim his weapon if needed.

The title comes from an English expression describing a situation where someone is deliberately misled or confused, usually in a subtle or gradual way. The gardens also evoke the lush natural environment of this part of Spain, which plays an important role in my images. Recent research suggests that the presence of human bodies underground may stimulate plant growth on the surface. In this context, Galician nature can be seen symbolically as a visible witness to the regime’s hidden crimes. Down the Garden Path also refers to the idea of walking along a path, which in spanish stands as “Dar un paseo” an expression used to describe the murders carried out by the regime’s armed wing, the Falange and the Guardia Civil.

Down the Garden Path weaves together four narrative approaches: a documentary exploration of Galicia's landscapes, architectural traces and portraits revealing Francoist remnants; a fictional reimagining of local repression stories performed by Galician actors with personal family connections to this history; archival materials from the Galician Falange that counterpoint fiction with documented facts; and a hybrid textual framework blending fictional storytelling, historical analysis and press excerpts to illuminate connections between images and context.