The Animals photographic exhibition arrives at Matadero Madrid, on the façade of Nave 15

• The book features 122 portraits of animals, 22 of which have been selected for this show, created by the artist over two years in sanctuaries and rescue centers.
• Sobering images of species such as the rooster, dog, lion, or pig serve as Estela de Castro’s way of denouncing exploitation, abandonment, and animal testing.
• For the first time since its inauguration as a cultural center, Matadero Madrid transforms Nave 15 with an artistic installation of this nature.

Matadero Madrid, a contemporary creation center under the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports, presents from today a new exhibition of animal portraits by photographer and activist Estela de Castro. The 22 selected photographs form part of a project the artist developed over two years, encompassing 122 portraits taken in sanctuaries and rescue, protection, and care centers for various species, compiled in the book The Animals.

This is the first time since Matadero Madrid’s opening as a cultural center that an exhibition has taken over Nave 15. The photographs will be visible to visitors and passersby in Plaza Matadero over the coming months.

All the animals portrayed by Estela de Castro — Ares the rooster, Miguelito the pig, Dante the dog, Boris the orangutan, and the rest of the 22 faces that look out from the doors and windows of Nave 15 — have been rescued and freed from situations of exploitation, abuse, humiliation, or mistreatment. The precise chiaroscuro technique and black backgrounds convey the darkness that has marked the lives of each subject photographed.

Through photography, Estela de Castro offers “a space for listening and recognition that invites us to reconsider how we relate to animals, allowing their faces and stories to take the center of the narrative.” Her work belongs to a tradition of contemporary photography that uses portraiture as a tool for social questioning and the construction of memory.

Estela de Castro: a career tied to activism

Photographer and educator specialized in portrait photography, Estela de Castro’s personal work is deeply linked to the struggle for human rights and animal rights. She trained with several of Spain’s most renowned photographers, including Javier Vallhonrat, Óscar Molina, Eduardo Momeñe, Valentín Vallhonrat, Manuel Outumuro, and Sofía Moro.

Between 2017 and 2019, she developed her project Zoocosis, which portrays and denounces the confinement suffered by animals in zoos. The project was part of Capital Animal, directed by Rafael Doctor, and exhibited at La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Centre del Carmen (Valencia), Las Cigarreras (Alicante), Revela-t Festival (Barcelona), Est Art Space (Madrid), the Córdoba Biennial, the Bank of Spain in Tarragona, and the FotoArica Festival (Chile).

In 2020, she created The Animals, a project aimed at raising awareness about animal mistreatment, exhibited in PHotoESPAÑA 2022 and published as a book by La Fábrica. For this publication, she received the Ministry of Culture’s First Prize for Best Art Book of the Year (2023). That same year, she also won First Prize in the Friends of Animals competition awarded by the Ministry of Social Affairs.