This week the Daily Mail published a feature article on my photo project documenting the legacy of Hollywood and international filmmaking in Almeria, Spain. Here is one excerpt from the interview published in the article: ‘The Western towns built by Sergio Leone and others were not meant to be accurate representations of the American West. Instead, they were constructed to meet filmmakers’ vision of what the American West was like. ‘The Spaghetti Western has been described as a myth of a myth, because it is one step further removed from the myth of the original Hollywood Westerns. ‘However, this myth […]
Read MoreExcerpts from the press conference for the exhibit “Érase una vez en Almería: decorados, restos y paisajes del cine” are now posted online. The brief presentation includes statements from Francisco Alonso, head of the Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, Mar Verdejo, coordinator of the exhibition, and myself, talking about the content of the exhibition and Almería’s film history. The press conference was held October 8 in the Palacio Provincial de la Diputación. The exhibit opened the following day at the Salón Polivalente de Tabernas as part of the fifth edition of the Almería Western Film Festival. Click below to watch the […]
Read MoreThis summer “La Voz de Almería” conducted a survey to pick the best films shot in the area since 1961. Hundreds of films have been made in the region over the past half century and 65 local cinema experts such as film experts, actors, directors, historians, writers were asked to select their top ten best movies filmed in Almería. “Lawrence de Arabia”, “Indiana Jones and the last crusade” and “The Good, the Ugly and the Bad” occupied the top three positions of the list and were considered among the best ever made. “Vivir es fácil” was the first Spanish movie appearing […]
Read MoreMy exhibit “Érase una vez en Almería: Decorados, Restos y Paisajes de Cine” (“Once Upon a Time in Almería”) opened last week in Almería, Spain, with a reception and artist talk. The show includes 18 framed prints 24″ x 36″, all images of film sets and locations around the province of Almería, which was the site of hundreds of movie productions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It was an emotional experience for me to have these photographs exhibited in Almería. The town of Tabernas, where the exhibit was located, is host to three remaining western movie towns and has been […]
Read MoreMy exhibition “Érase una vez en Almería: Decorados, Restos y Paisajes de Cine” (“Once Upon a Time in Almería”) was inaugurated this last weekend in Almería, Spain. The exhibition included 18 framed prints 24″ x 36″, all images of film sets and locations around the province of Almeria, which was the site of hundreds of movie productions primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition showed sets built to recreate shootings, constructions where “good, bad and ugly folks” found a shelter and landscapes through where stagecoaches were heading to the unknown. “Mark Parascandola presents his vision of what is left […]
Read MoreNaturally Occurring Patterns at All We Art Studio
Featuring Donna Cameron, Mariana Copello, Mark Parascandola
March 27, 2015 – April 12, 2015
New York Times, July 21, 1977 Even after the death of Francisco Franco, the Carabanchel prison in Madrid remained in operation and continued to hold some political prisoners. During the transition to democracy in Spain, the prison became a focus for protests and calls for amnesty for political prisoners, gaining international media attention. More than two decades passed before the prison was finally closed on September 11, 1998. Read more in the Carabanchel book available here
Read MoreLa Chanca: Living on the Margin, an exhibition of photographs by Mark Parascandola, will be on exhibit at Studio 1469 1469 Harvard St NW REAR Washington, DC October 10-25, 2014 with a Public Reception on Friday, October 10th, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Read more …
Read MorePhotographer and art writer Pat Padua recently reviewed my Carabanchel book for DCist. The article includes an interview about the book and my dual life as a photographer/epidemiologist. Padua writes: “Parascandola’s new book documents this decay and the colorful tags, which suggest a change in the pattern of human behavior from one in which freedoms are taken away, to one in which freedom becomes an institution’s destruction.” Read the full article here.
Read MoreArtist Mark Parascandola releases his first photography book Carabanchel on Wednesday, June 4, 6:30 – 8:30 PM, at Studio 1469, 1469 Harvard St NW – REAR (Columbia Heights Metro). Carabanchel spotlights Parascandola’s photography of the defunct prison that once jailed Spain’s most notorious political prisoners for the greater part of the 20th Century. The event is free and open to the public. https://www.parascandola.com/bookrelease1469/
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