Juan Aballe’s photographs of pastoral landscapes filled with wanderlust

The work of Spanish photographer Juan Aballe is prepossessing in its honesty, with an accomplished use of light that creates dreamlike photographic works.

Juan’s introduction to photography wasn’t a natural one, actually discovering the darkroom whilst studying a chemistry degree. However, this scientific capability has allowed Juan to develop a photographic style idiosyncratic to his outlook, surroundings and personality. The result is a portfolio that “combines a documentary aesthetic with a strong formal interest in medium and its ability to generate open narratives.”

For his most recent series Country Fictions the photographer travelled to the Iberian Peninsula in an attempt to explore and understand country living. “As several close friends begin to think about moving to the country, I was confronted with the idea of leaving the city myself, starting a new life closer to nature” he explains, “In Country Fictions reality and my imagination come together to deal with my distant relationship with the rural environment and emotions brought about by the idea of taking that step.” Consequently, Juan’s portraits of countryside living are an insight to an otherworldly landscape. A mix of shots of rural residencies, hand-built homes and windows that look out onto endless hills, the photographer’s discovery of a pastoral landscape is a balance between the inviting and unfamiliar.

It’s a series full of wanderlust whilst the photographer questions the next step in his life and considers “escaping from contemporary society, the myths and hopes built around nature come together with the strangeness and the nostalgic look at a life that I might never live.”