MIRAME, LIMA

We're 8 millions and 432 thousands citizens in Lima, Peru. Do we look at each other? Do we really know who we are? With these questions in mind a photographic project has taken shape, aiming to discover and display our cultural diversities. Mírame, Lima is a series of 50 family portraits aiming to reflect the cultural, ethnical, religious diversities present within the Peruvian capital. Partly as a result of insecurity, street violence, lack of information, among other things, people in Lima tend to live very isolated from each other, in small groups from which they rarely emerge. With this project we would like to help to get to know each other better, to encourage integration and respect between citizens and to do so with a positive, optimistic tone in order to avoid conflict and controversy. We believe in the necessity to open a dialogue and to awake curiosity within people about each other's diversity. The project is an invitation to explore without prejudice and stroll around a plural city, whose houses and streets are a mirror of the entire world. The families portrayed are anonymous. They could be distant relatives, our childhood's neighbours, the chinese restaurant's owner, the local tailor or the renowned fashion designer. Anyone of us could be included. All of these families have opened their houses to get to know them. Theyʼve picked their favourite objects and, as if in a theatre play, theyʼve performed their life story: who they are, their dreams and in what they believe. In many cases families have extended, embracing new members: working partners, friends or pupils. Mírame, Lima is a collaborative project between photographers Jaime Travezan and Morgana Vargas Llosa with art director David Tortora.

TORTORA + TRAVEZAN is the collaborative practice of David Tortora (Italy) and Jaime Travezan (Peru), active since 2009. Their work, often described as visually rich and ultra-real, combines photography with digital manipulation. After beginning in fashion and portraiture, they moved toward personal projects exploring sociocultural themes. Their series Galatea (2013) marked their entry into fine art. Their work has received international awards and been exhibited at institutions including the National Portrait Gallery of London and major photography festivals.