Nostos, the new project by José Manuel Navia, was over twelve years in the making. In it, Navia reflects on life itself as the essential journey; after making travel both his job and his vocation, he shares his vision of the world with the viewer. The name of the exhibition and the accompanying book – published by Ediciones Anómalas – comes from the Greek term nostos, which expresses the ideas of homecoming, return, journey, path, departure and the possibility of coming back.
The work draws on three fundamental concepts: territory, in which every photo project is constructed; the journey leading to that territory; and memory, which gives the territory meaning, and humanises it. Navia fills this journey with pictures, just as a writer uses words. He intends the viewer to see the world and recognise rather than discover it, with the idea that this view will mark a return to one’s origin, a finding of oneself.
José Manuel Navia (Madrid, 1957) started his career as a freelance photographer in 1987. He worked for the Cover agency, and since 1992 has belonged to Vu’. He has been pictures editor for El País Semanal and has contributed to the Magazine de La Vanguardia, the Spanish edition of National Geographic, GEO and La Repubblica. His most personal work is collected in books like Photobolsillo, Pisadas sonámbulas: lusofonías, Marruecos, fragmentos de lo cotidiano, Territorios del Quijote, Ciudades Patrimonio de la Humanidad, Un Madrid literario, and his latest work, Nóstos.
