Cristina de Middel

CRISTINA DE MIDDEL (Alicante, 1975).
“Party.” Collector’s edition from 2013.
Edition of 25, copy 3/25.
Original photograph (pigment print) signed and numbered by the artist, presented in a sealed case.
Winner of the award for Best Photobook of the Year in the international category at PhotoEspaña 2014.
Measurements: 11 x 14 cm.

The photobook *Party* was conceived by Cristina following an initial trip to China in 2012, undertaken with the sole purpose of responding photographically to whatever caught her attention, without prior analysis. She returned with a vast series of images whose only common denominator was her own sense of wonder, which made classification difficult. To give shape to this work, Cristina used the structure of Mao’s Little Red Book (the former “Bible” of the Chinese people) to create a unique narrative about contemporary China. The artist adapted this historic political statement for the 21st century by censoring and obscuring outdated portions of the text and highlighting reworked phrases that, in her view, offer a more accurate portrait of the country today.

Cristina de Middel is an internationally renowned Spanish documentary photographer and artist. After working as a photojournalist, she has distinguished herself through her artistic style that blends reality and fiction, questioning the nature of photographic truth. She was named president of Magnum Photos in 2022 and won Spain’s National Photography Award in 2017. She also received the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord.