Spanish Farmland

In this aerial series, I explore the stunning landscape of agricultural fields in central Spain. Over centuries, Spanish farmers transformed the landscape into a patchwork of abstract art. They adapted to the rugged topography by carving tracks, fields and plantations into the terrain.

Even though the soil is quite fertile, cultivating the fields is challenging due to increasingly low rainfall and extreme heat. For that reason, the fields are organized in terraces to prevent rainwater from flowing off. Some fields are still cultivated, while others have been abandoned due to excessive labour and low yields.

Seen from the air, the landscape resembles a subtle arrangement of blood cells, ordered into a patterned carpet covering the surface.

I’m interested in finding the most abstract forms of human-altered landscapes—places where the transition from photography to painterly images is fluid. However, farmers on the ground are the actual designers of the images, supposedly with an economic rather than an artistic intention. I see myself as the observer, curating their work into artworks with a subtle eye.