Eloísa García Guerrero Releases A Costa da Morte

Wonderful Machine is pleased to announce the book release of one of our own team: Mexican-born, Madrid-based photographer, producer, and marketing specialist Eloísa García Guerrero. Following her debut book 707 Days in Algeria in 2016, Elo’s second self-published photobook A Costa da Morte (2024) explores the Galicia coast of northwest Spain. The book combines Elo’s series of photos from a 2020 trip to Rías Altas and a 2022 trip to Rías Baixas, with original Spanish language essays by Elo, María Asunción Cancela Silva, and Elisa Queijeiro.

Elo and the two writers will formally present the book and a special video presentation on September 3, 2024 at Casa de Mexico in Madrid. Casa de Mexico is a cultural center that functions as a museum, concert and event hall, and bookstore, and has as its primary mission the promoting of work by Mexican artists.

We reached out to Elo to hear more about A Costa da Morte, and how this self-assigned project became a photobook.

Q. How did this project come about?

This project was born in December 2020. I had to leave my native country Mexico, and arrive in a Madrid (a different, non-touristy Madrid) affected, as was the whole world, by the pandemic. My need at that time was to get out of the city and head to the sea — that’s how we found a distant point called La Costa de la Muerte (“The death coast”), and the name caught me.

Q. Had you been to Galicia before? If not, what did you know about the area going into the visit? Did you have any sense there was a photo project waiting for you there, or did the project take form when you first saw the group of pictures? 

I had never set foot in Galicia before. La Costa de la Muerte is in the high rías (Rías Altas), and a year later I visited the low rías (Rías Baixas) and continued with the project. That’s why the low rías is the second part of my book.

The project came to me as soon as I set foot on the site. I immediately understood the music of great contemporary composers like Ólafur Arnalds and Hildur Guðnadóttir when I discovered those immense cliffs with crashing waves.

Q. How did you approach the written portion of the book? Was it always part of the idea for you or was there a time you imagined the book would be exclusively images? 

La Costa de la Muerte is a place like I have never seen before, full of shipwreck stories and dramatic sounding nature, which is why I also needed words to complement my images. My family and I stayed in a very small cabin 500 meters from the sea. From the moment I started taking pictures with my two cameras, I saw the book project accompanied with texts. This time I needed my project to be accompanied by words. I also see it with music, that is why I am finishing the production of a video accompanied by two different types of music and the voice-over of one of the writers. That video contains some of my unpublished photographs that I will show to the public at the beginning of the presentation of my book.

Q. Did the other writers featured in the book compose the text for this book in particular, or are these selections from their existing writing? Were you all in Galicia at the same time?

The writers wrote these texts after seeing my images. They are unpublished texts, composed for this book. This is part of a wonderful exercise since the inspiration came from my photographs. We were not together in Galicia at the same time, but both of them know the area well. Asunción Cancela Silva is from the city of Pontevedra in Galicia, and that is why she is the one who writes the most in the book. She was very impressed that my photos show sensations of the place, and started writing for this project as early as 2021. The second writer, Elisa Queijeiro, is a Mexican storyteller whose father was from Galicia. She was fascinated by the project, and also wrote her text exclusively for this book.

Q. What is the importance of personal projects for photographers?

My books are the place where I can explore myself to the fullest. It’s not work, it’s pleasure. Since I was about nine years old, I played at presenting my work at exhibitions — so this is continuing something I do instinctively. I have a very special relationship with nature and that’s why the Nature category appeals to me so much. The second photo specialty I like the most is social documentary. For me, it is vital to have personal projects.

Q. When do you know that a series of photos can become a book?

When the photos tell something beyond aesthetics. This is not just a series of pictures of cliffs and sea, it talks about the whole place, about the stories that are in the background, about the richness of living beings that inhabit a coast that bears the name of death. When a series of photographs has a specific meaning or purpose that you need to share, it deserves a book.

Q. What is your hope for A Costa da Morte?

I want it to reach more people. I would love that a publisher would be interested and more copies could be printed. So far, it is an author’s edition with fifty copies.

I want to take this opportunity to share that I have been granted an exhibition for January 2025. The exhibition of this project will be presented at A Casa de Galicia from January 8-31, 2025.

Q. What is your role at Wonderful Machine?

I am a marketing specialist and consultant. My background as an executive producer in audiovisual media and arts, as well as being a photographer myself, supports me in my consulting work. I love working with photographers!

See more of Elo’s photography on her website.
Learn more about Elo’s consulting work on our blog.

Further Reading
Expert Advice: Self-Publishing a Photobook
Expert Advice: Traditional Photobook Publishers
Expert Advice: Independent Photobook Publishers

---

Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Photography,
Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!