Esquerda a través

"Esquerda a través" (Through the crack) explores accelerated urban transformation and the housing crisis in Barcelona through an intimate photographic diary, curated by Carolina Ciuti at La Casa Elizalde, in collaboration with Bombon Projects.

This long-term photographic project explores the hidden dynamics that shape contemporary urban life in European city centers. Developed over seven years, it documents the transformation of a residential building and its surroundings in Barcelona’s Eixample district, where housing, displacement, real estate speculation, and tourism pressures intersect with models of urban development and the global economic system.

Approached as a personal visual diary, the series captures both architectural change and accelerated urban transformation, revealing everyday lives marked by vulnerability and precarity. Symbolic and visual elements permeate the work, suggesting what remains unseen, what escapes control, and how instability and exposure are produced within the city.

Rooted in the experiences of displacement endured by both the author and the building’s neighbors, the project positions photography as both intimate observation and critical response. At its core, it reflects on the right to live as a transaction, where access to housing, safety, and belonging is increasingly mediated by market logic. While grounded in a specific place, the work resonates with global discussions on gentrification, urban tourism, housing precarity, and the unequal distribution of power in contemporary cities.