BAPORAK THE BASQUE FLEET IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
THE BASQUE FLEET IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
MIKEL ESKAURIAZA
Baporak records a photographic cataloguing of ships in the Basque tuna fishing fleet that work in the Indian Ocean. Each one of the photographs of the modern 21 st century fleet uses the format of the classical naval portrait. The sharp forms of the ships, outlined against a background where sea and sky follow a constant proportion, reveal the fact that the vessels cover up a reality whose face we hardly ever see: what goes on in the oceans, the relentless freighting of merchandise that sustains the global economy. Made from 2013 to 2015 in the Indian Ocean and off the Bay of Biscay, the inventory of ships is accompanied by documentary photographs portraying details of their interiors and the work of fishing, together with historical and literary references that resonate in the images of ships. One of the references, the figure of the desert island as a utopian space and the possibility of new beginnings, lies behind the origin and end of the project.
