Casa Sole is a century old Spanish villa situated in Durro, Vall de Boi, a small recluse mountain village in the Catalan Pyrenees. The Town Hall acquired it in order to transform it into an Ethnological Museum of Catalonia. My task was to faithfully document the atmosphere of Casa Sole at the moment of the acquisition, prior to any modifications made by the Town Hall. Like all old houses, Casa Sole had a very intriguing and fascinating story to say. During its last 21 years, it had no inhabitants whatsoever; preserving the exact status quo of the day the last human being left the house. All reminiscence of life stayed untouched, like the vases with flowers, the rest of the food on the kitchen table or the night pot ready under the bed. I felt like I could be caught red handed any moment by the owner, who would scold me for intruding his property. In complete discordance with its name, Casa Sole benefited only of four hours and a half of daylight, being located between two mountains peaks, and had no electricity. The spider web was omnipresent, as was the mould on the walls. The broken windows, the creaking wooden stares, the freezing cold were composing an Andersen tale mood, with a quirky Hitchcock touch. The furniture, an eclectic mixture of styles and eras, remained intact. The kitchen was similar to the nowadays ones, but with a century old stove instead of cooker, and the archaic guest bedroom was endowed with an obsolete television set and walls covered in golden age movie stars posters. But the most thought-provoking thing were the religious icons above all beds in the house. It was like the family was completely embracing the divinity in order to ease the pain of losing the only heir at a tender age, in mysterious conditions. The tragedy happened when the heir was driving a tractor in the yard, and he fell under its wheels. No one could determine if it was an accident or a suicide.
With my photos, I tried to capture all this intriguing history of Casa Sole, its eerie mood and its dramatic tales. They were part of the opening exhibition for the now Ethnological Museum of Catalonia.
With my photos, I tried to capture all this intriguing history of Casa Sole, its eerie mood and its dramatic tales. They were part of the opening exhibition for the now Ethnological Museum of Catalonia.
