Monuments that have withstood the weight of time can be found amidst the solitude of the
Spanish landscapes. Stones and ruins that tell us about mystical stories, tales of the
esoteric, histories of conquest, and the reclaiming of territories.
Taken over by nature, their humanity fades, transforming them into symbols of the natural world.
Their significance shifts over time; for many, they are sacred stones that should remain untouched,
standing as symbols of Roman, Medieval, and Islamic cultures. Why do we preserve them?
These buildings and stones, whether blending seamlessly into the landscape or standing out as
out of place objects, possess a mysterious beauty.
The sites chosen for these pictures are those that are lesser-known and less ordinary, highlighting
the many ruins that remain unexplored but are still preserved, despite their limited historical documentation.
And again, why weren’t they completely erased from the landscape?
What compels us to leave them standing?
Perhaps they evoke a sense of awe, fear, or respect—testaments tothe endurance of the human spirit,
partially swallowed by nature but still standing.
Maybe these stones speak to us of the future—of space travel, aliens, and the vastness of the skies.
Upon closer inspection, some might even remind us of a sci-fi landscape, an analog
of Mars on our planet.
What do we see when we look back at the past? How do we perceive it? Is the weight of
time upon us, or is it perhaps a tiger’s leap into the past?
Walter Benjamin suggests the possibility of viewing time as non-linear and non-sequential,
allowing us to see the past as a creative force and the present as an open door to new possibilities
for contemporary change.
Maybe the image of the ruin challenges us to think in terms of Benjamin’s tiger’s leap,
to understand tales and stories, myths and legends, our historical past, as part of a temporal
continuum—a lens through which we can interrogate our contemporary present.