{"title":"Cristina de Middel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eA Spanish photographer and visual artist who blends documentary and fiction to challenge conventional photographic narratives. A member and former president of Magnum Photos, she also runs the independent publishing house \u003cem data-start=\"288\" data-end=\"307\"\u003eThis Book is True\u003c\/em\u003e, focused on photobooks that amplify voices and stories outside the traditional canon. Her work combines visual research, irony, and political critique.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-afronauts-cristina-de-middel","title":"Cristina de Middel – The Afronauts (First Edition, 2012)","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"286\" data-end=\"831\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"286\" data-end=\"301\"\u003eThe Afronauts\u003c\/em\u003e is a seminal first edition photobook by Spanish artist Cristina de Middel, self‑published in Madrid in 2012. The book reimagines the real‑life 1960s Zambian space program initiated by Edward Makuka, blending documentary source material with staged, speculative photography to question and undo conventional narratives about Africa. By inserting imagination into history, de Middel foregrounds fiction as a critical tool within photographic practice, challenging stereotypes and expanding the possibilities of visual storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"833\" data-end=\"1357\"\u003eProduced in a limited run of approximately 1,000 copies, the first edition quickly became one of the most influential and collectible photobooks of the last decade. Its impact was recognised internationally: \u003cem data-start=\"1041\" data-end=\"1056\"\u003eThe Afronauts\u003c\/em\u003e was shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture First Book Award and the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, and received the ICP Infinity Award. The publication is widely celebrated by critics, foundations such as the Martin Parr Foundation, and collectors as a defining work of 21st‑century photography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1359\" data-end=\"1378\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1359\" data-end=\"1378\"\u003eTechnical Sheet\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul data-start=\"1380\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1380\" data-end=\"1408\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1408\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1392\"\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e The Afronauts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1409\" data-end=\"1452\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1411\" data-end=\"1452\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1411\" data-end=\"1431\"\u003eArtist \/ Author:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cristina de Middel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1471\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1455\" data-end=\"1471\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1455\" data-end=\"1464\"\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2012\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1472\" data-end=\"1518\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1474\" data-end=\"1518\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1474\" data-end=\"1486\"\u003eEdition:\u003c\/strong\u003e First edition, self‑published\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1519\" data-end=\"1570\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1521\" data-end=\"1570\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1521\" data-end=\"1544\"\u003ePublisher \/ Editor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Self‑published (Madrid)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1571\" data-end=\"1623\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1573\" data-end=\"1623\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1573\" data-end=\"1605\"\u003eTechnique \/ Printing Method:\u003c\/strong\u003e Offset printing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1624\" data-end=\"1671\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1626\" data-end=\"1671\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1626\" data-end=\"1649\"\u003eMedium \/ Materials:\u003c\/strong\u003e Softcover photobook\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1672\" data-end=\"1717\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1674\" data-end=\"1717\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1674\" data-end=\"1689\"\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 24 × 30 cm \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1718\" data-end=\"1767\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1720\" data-end=\"1767\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1720\" data-end=\"1733\"\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English (with visual narrative)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1811\" data-end=\"1846\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1813\" data-end=\"1846\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1813\" data-end=\"1830\"\u003eEdition Size:\u003c\/strong\u003e ~1,000 copies\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1847\" data-end=\"1968\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1849\" data-end=\"1968\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1849\" data-end=\"1865\"\u003eRecognition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paris Photo–Aperture First Book Award finalist; shortlisted Deutsche Börse Prize; ICP Infinity Award\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1969\" data-end=\"2033\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1971\" data-end=\"2033\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1971\" data-end=\"1985\"\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mint\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2034\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2036\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DaRWIN","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51617604010322,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/7058\/0818\/files\/MAISONSCLOSES_7_7ae18bc3-42db-4349-a326-9fe49bef34fe.jpg?v=1768070093"},{"product_id":"cartas-al-director-cristina-de-middel","title":"Cartas al Director – Cristina de Middel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA striking catalogue of journalistic gesture and photographic inquiry.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this monumental work, Cristina de Middel reinterprets the act of writing “letters to the editor” as a potent tool of narrative subversion and photographic storytelling. Conceived as both a book and an exhibition companion, this boxed set unfolds with the graphic logic of a newspaper, echoing the aesthetics of mass media while challenging its conventions. Within the box lie four distinct bodies of work — Journey to the Center, Gentlemen’s Club, The Kabuler, and Vida y milagros de Paula P. — each a fragment of her long-standing inquiry into power, gender, conflict, and constructed realities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDe Middel assembles newsprint, photography, and visual essays in an oversized, sculptural format, inviting the reader to navigate the layered zones between information and fiction. The piece recalls her early career as a photojournalist while pushing the limits of what documentary form can be. Designed with bold typographies, wrap-around folds, and varied print formats, Cartas al Director becomes a letter of its own: open-ended, sharp, and deeply personal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cimg\u003eObject: Artist Book \/ Boxed Set\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTitle: Cartas al Director\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArtist \/ Author: Cristina de Middel\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDate: 2023\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTechnique \/ Printing Method: Offset, folded inserts\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMedium \/ Materials: Paper, card, box\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: Not specified\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSigned: No\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions: 32 × 22 cm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLanguage: Spanish \/ English\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePages: Approx. 120–190 (varies by component)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher \/ Editor: Consejería de Cultura, Turismo y Deporte (Madrid)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eISBN: 978-84-451-4066-6\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DaRWIN","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51956902330706,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/7058\/0818\/files\/MAISONSCLOSES_5.jpg?v=1768030535"},{"product_id":"this-is-what-hatred-did-cristina-de-middel-first-edition","title":"This Is What Hatred Did — Cristina de Middel, first edition","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"128\" data-end=\"628\"\u003eCristina de Middel’s \u003cem data-start=\"149\" data-end=\"174\"\u003eThis Is What Hatred Did\u003c\/em\u003e is a haunting visual transcription of Amos Tutuola’s 1954 Yoruba folklore novel \u003cem data-start=\"255\" data-end=\"286\"\u003eMy Life in the Bush of Ghosts\u003c\/em\u003e, reimagined through photography, fiction and reportage in the fraught urban landscape of Makoko, a floating slum in Lagos. At once allegory and documentary, the book slips between myth and reality, echoing Tutuola’s narrative style with staged images, saturated hues and vivid printed matter that seem to emerge directly from the underworld.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"630\" data-end=\"1222\"\u003eDe Middel maps the surrealism of Tutuola’s prose onto the lived complexities of postcolonial Nigeria, where traditional cosmologies and modern violence collide. The result is a dreamlike and disorienting photo-text in which each page carries the tension of hallucination and truth. Part photobook, part object, the edition opens with a lush botanical endpaper—lush and feral, signaling the psychic jungle to come. In the Darwin archive, it stands alongside works by Pieter Hugo and Samuel Fosso in its commitment to unsettling the gaze and expanding the visual vocabulary of African urbanism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1224\" data-end=\"1646\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eTitle: This Is What Hatred Did\u003cbr data-start=\"1282\" data-end=\"1285\"\u003eArtist \/ Author: Cristina de Middel\u003cbr data-start=\"1320\" data-end=\"1323\"\u003eDate: 2015\u003cbr data-start=\"1333\" data-end=\"1336\"\u003eTechnique \/ Printing Method: Offset printing\u003cbr data-start=\"1380\" data-end=\"1383\"\u003eMedium \/ Materials: Hardcover photobook with colour plates and illustrated endpapers\u003cbr data-start=\"1467\" data-end=\"1470\"\u003eEdition: First edition\u003cbr data-start=\"1492\" data-end=\"1495\"\u003eSigned: No\u003cbr data-start=\"1505\" data-end=\"1508\"\u003eDimensions (cm): 13 × 28\u003cbr data-start=\"1532\" data-end=\"1535\"\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr data-start=\"1552\" data-end=\"1555\"\u003ePages: 180\u003cbr data-start=\"1565\" data-end=\"1568\"\u003ePublisher \/ Editor: RM Verlag \/ La Fábrica \/ Images en Manoeuvres \/ Archive of Modern Conflict\u003cbr data-start=\"1662\" data-end=\"1665\"\u003eDesign: Natalia, N2 Estudio Gráfico\u003cbr data-start=\"1700\" data-end=\"1703\"\u003eISBN: 9788415118731\u003cbr data-start=\"1722\" data-end=\"1725\"\u003eCondition: NEW\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DaRWIN","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52549986025810,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/7058\/0818\/files\/TODWEBB_copy_3561d4c6-0c7b-4c4f-bdf2-c17163cdea46.jpg?v=1769190685"},{"product_id":"cucurrucucu-cristina-de-middel-2016","title":"CUCURRUCUCÚ — Cristina de Middel, Editorial RM, 2016","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"107\" data-end=\"666\"\u003eCristina de Middel’s \u003cem data-start=\"128\" data-end=\"141\"\u003eCucurrucucú\u003c\/em\u003e is a hybrid photobook and conceptual artifact that fuses vernacular Mexican imagery with the aesthetic codes of pulp cinema, violence, and myth-making. Built from photographs found at the La Lagunilla flea market in Mexico City in 2015, the book is a staged resurrection—part crime narrative, part visual poem, part cultural détournement. The man on the cover, bloodied and clutching a pistol, speaks from a comic-style speech bubble: “CUCURRUCUCÚ”, invoking the tragic bolero popularized by Tomás Méndez and Caetano Veloso.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"668\" data-end=\"1060\"\u003ePublished by RM and edited with creative precision, this edition blurs the line between archive and fiction, between cultural critique and visual seduction. De Middel’s approach echoes her earlier \u003cem data-start=\"865\" data-end=\"876\"\u003eAfronauts\u003c\/em\u003e, twisting documentary language until it cracks open a new truth. Here, Mexico becomes both subject and performance—a country visualised through the leftovers of its own image economy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1062\" data-end=\"1396\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1062\" data-end=\"1081\"\u003eTechnical Sheet\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"1081\" data-end=\"1084\"\u003eTitle: Cucurrucucú\u003cbr data-start=\"1102\" data-end=\"1105\"\u003eArtist \/ Author: Cristina de Middel\u003cbr data-start=\"1140\" data-end=\"1143\"\u003eDate: 2016\u003cbr data-start=\"1153\" data-end=\"1156\"\u003eTechnique \/ Printing Method: Offset\u003cbr data-start=\"1191\" data-end=\"1194\"\u003eMedium \/ Materials: Softcover\u003cbr data-start=\"1223\" data-end=\"1226\"\u003eDimensions (cm): approx. 15 × 21\u003cbr data-start=\"1258\" data-end=\"1261\"\u003eLanguage: Bilingual (Spanish\/English)\u003cbr data-start=\"1298\" data-end=\"1301\"\u003ePages: Unpaginated\u003cbr data-start=\"1319\" data-end=\"1322\"\u003ePublisher \/ Editor: RM Verlag\u003cbr data-start=\"1351\" data-end=\"1354\"\u003eISBN: 978-84-16282-65-4\u003cbr data-start=\"1377\" data-end=\"1380\"\u003eCondition: NEW\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DaRWIN","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52624169238866,"sku":null,"price":39.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/7058\/0818\/files\/TODWEBB_copy_copy_2_3153f62c-41f0-4abd-b787-8b5d8c5bcca3.jpg?v=1770122583"},{"product_id":"journey-to-the-center","title":"Journey to the Center — Cristina de Middel — Editiones RM — 2024","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"171\" data-end=\"689\"\u003eA charged reimagining of migration as epic narrative, this book reframes the Central American route through Mexico using fiction, symbolism and lived testimony. Mixing documentary images, staged scenes and found materials, it builds a layered journey that echoes Jules Verne while grounded in present realities. Developed over years alongside migrants riding “La Bestia,” it shifts between myth and evidence. Presented at Rencontres d’Arles 2024, it stands as one of De Middel’s most ambitious narrative constructions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"691\" data-end=\"1028\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"691\" data-end=\"710\"\u003eTechnical Sheet\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"710\" data-end=\"713\"\u003eTitle: Journey to the Center\u003cbr data-start=\"741\" data-end=\"744\"\u003eArtist \/ Author: Cristina de Middel\u003cbr data-start=\"779\" data-end=\"782\"\u003eDate: 2024\u003cbr data-start=\"792\" data-end=\"795\"\u003eEdition: Signed copy\u003cbr data-start=\"815\" data-end=\"818\"\u003eMedium \/ Materials: Photobook, hardcover\u003cbr data-start=\"858\" data-end=\"861\"\u003eDimensions (cm): 20 x 30\u003cbr data-start=\"885\" data-end=\"888\"\u003ePages: 176\u003cbr data-start=\"898\" data-end=\"901\"\u003eLanguage: English (with Spanish insert)\u003cbr data-start=\"940\" data-end=\"943\"\u003ePublisher \/ Editor: Cristina de Middel, Editions Textuel\u003cbr data-start=\"999\" data-end=\"1002\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Editorial RM","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53262892073298,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/7058\/0818\/files\/TODWEBB_copy_copy_2c260aa4-8c80-4b25-a336-8720cdd59702.jpg?v=1776888223"}],"url":"https:\/\/thedarwin.es\/collections\/cristina-de-middel.oembed","provider":"DaRWIN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}