“The Fish Dies By Its Mouth,” the photobook by Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

Child Fish.

A child fish opens its mouth looking for food. 2016. A child fish opens its mouth trying to catch out something. Juan David is the nephew of Aracelly and a neighbor of the cabin (or "balcony" as they call it) where I always stay. The boy is almost the same age as I was when I first visited the town.

Speedboat.

Landscape intervention using green fabric and boat of a person with his arms wide opened as a flying fish to the horizon.

Arepa e’ huevo.

“Arepa e’ huevo” is a typical dish from the Caribbean coast consisting of a fried arepa filled with a whole egg. Girl with a traditional hairstyle remembers cartoon “Minnie Mouse”.

Toad.

The toad is the one that sings and dies. It's better to opt for silence. This photograph that I took of Esteban in Bahía Solano in 2018 while he smoked and looked towards the stars, I printed it in a stationary shop in Sincelejo, Sucre. The different layers of substrate and representation seek the play of scale in space, characteristics of materials and symbolism. In this case, I left the photograph in a bucket of water for a couple of hours, to my surprise, then finding a toad taking a nocturnal bath.

Pseudoliparis Genus.

Reflecting on the ocean depths or the load that falls beneath the surfaces, I used a carved wooden jaguar's head and a reading lamp to represent an unknown species of snailfish from the Pseudoliparis genus, which was filmed by one of the research vessel DSSV Pressure Drop's cameras at a depth of 8,336 meters, in the Izu-Ogasawara trench, south of Japan.

Cargo al mar.

A narco throws the cargo into the sea to avoid Colombian Naval Force persecution.

Marine undulations.

Marine undulations from a polyshade or textile cover make this sequence: few steps away from the shoreline, there was a ranch covered by a polyshade cloth that protected from the sun. Although the undulations and strength of the sea were within reach to be photographed, I found it more interesting to abstract the idea and think about the changing volatility of the wind over a textile body like this. For several years, it has been a recurring practice in my work to use polyshade or fabrics in clear allusion to Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The idea of covering not only speaks of protecting oneself but also of hiding.

Man-fish.

A man-fish, a fish-human. This image summarizes the project "The Fish Dies By Its Mouth": fear, staying silent, covering identity. At the same time, the representation of the human and the animal. I made it thanks to chance: the boatman was taking off his neckerchief to take a dip, and in that intermediate between the neck and the sky, a face similar to the photo was formed. I recomposed the scene and the background to get this photo that can summarize the project.

Shrimp boat.

The formation of small boats upon returning from a fishing trip. I had this structure of small boats in mind a year before I made it. As I said, my work has a special interest in architecture and sculpture. Urban and landscape interventions, such as in this case, rely on imagination. Imagination emerges as a vital aid in the construction of images by evoking metaphors, combining techniques and modes of visualization. The exercise allows us to project the illusion of achieving what we propose, from small to big; from representation to reality; from symbol to object; from individual to collective memory.

AK-47.

A gold pendant in the shape of an AK-47 covers the face of a fisherman, known as “El Negro”, on the banks of Playa Huina in Bahía Solano. Violence and money intersect the daily lives of the residents and fishermen of the Colombian Pacific.

Pirate.

The fisherman wields a coral. It's a weapon! Again, play and laughter resulted in this photo. We were visiting Isla Palma and stopped on an islet in the middle of the sea to build a wall of bricks covered with plastic, when my friend Federico wielded a coral and pointed it at me. I laughed... There, I understood that violent gestures are normalized since childhood, but in a context of violence and presence of drug trafficking, being pointed at with a weapon is no cause for joy. It’s pure fear!

Rincón del Mar.

Everyday life in the coastal town of Rincón del Mar, Sucre, combines gossip, family gatherings, work, and cooling off from the heat. The Caribbean architecture is enhanced with a mix of vibrant colors applied to the facades.

Deivis Family.

Kaleth, Génesis, Salomé Itzayanna: The names of Deivis Vecino del Mar’s children are tattooed on his chest. Using scaled figures, we projected into the future.

Yajaira El Ñato.

Document-size photos of Yajaira, the heiress to the sport fishing business, navigates the sea as a homenaje of his lated father, El Ñato. Later, the portraits were installed as if they were a ship in ruins on the beach before the tide rose and covered them.

Sea Fruits.

To represent sea fruits or creatures in the ocean depths, I used wax and fake eyelashes to represent an unknown species of the depths of the Ocean.

Pinscher.

A pinscher covered with green buttons as a remembrance of the coronavirus.

Fighting cock.

A fighting cock is ready for battle! Cockfighting in Colombia has been debated in the Congress of the Republic, just like sport fishing. For a part of the population, they are considered violent practices that must be eradicated. For others, they are part of their tradition and way of having fun. This photo represents that limit state between one position and the other: caress and attack!

Dago DC-3.

Dago open his arms on top of a speedboat stocked in the shore. Dago divides his time between studying a technical degree in environmental management at the Technological University of Chocó, climbing the hill and doing choreographies with his friends, and going to the Christian church to pray. His outfit reminded me of Francesco Giusti's work “Sapología.”

Nautical Flag.

In the image, my childhood friend Federico Martínez represents a nautical flag with his strokes while demonstrating his great ability to free dive. The divers from Rincón del Mar are considered the best for their great capacity to hold their breath and resistance without the aid of equipment or oxygen tanks. Behind him, Deivis Vecino Altamar, my other great friend, extends his arms. He does not like the sea. The animations of the photographs are video versions that I am experimenting with to expand the narratives of the project and its installation in space.

Parrotfish.

A detail of a parrotfish framed in a cage-shaped picture frame. It’s a symbol for people who are preyed upon for drug trafficking. Many of them are imprisoned in jails in Panama and Colombia. Others are disappeared, and their family and companions never hear from them again.

Sape.

We used an orange metallic fabric to create a space out of context and highlight the muscles on the back and magnifying glasses, like fish eyes. At the end of the session, Juan David took the fabric to play on the beach.

Shipwreck.

We were trying to sail with a shrimp boat with a metallic sheet as a synonym for the impossibility of movement in the water, with such bad luck that we sank. It couldn't have been better! The boat sank in the high seas, and its shape resembled the humpback whales that visit the Pacific Ocean in front of the coasts of Bahía Solano to give birth to their calves. I consider error and drift as a fundamental part of my work to go against the longing for what we believe is "perfection."