[Where We Belong]
One form of play, according to sociologist Roger Caillois, is imitation. In fact, in some languages the word playing refers to acting or staging a character. The Where We Belong project delves into that sphere of play through the phenomenon of the Janeites, fans of the British writer Jane Austen who, coiffed and dressed in the Regency style, recreate her literary universe at meetings and festivals, where they dance, walk, embroider and read passages from her novels aloud.
Alejandra Carles-Tolra is interested in visual sociology and the performativity of gender roles, and gives us an insight into these groups of women. Behind the ideal of 19th century feminity, these women hide communities of mutual support inspired by an author who made a living from her writing and never married, which was unusual for the time. The images were created in collaboration with one of these clubs, and evoke religious iconography or pre-Raphaelite paintings from a contemporary perspective in which female identity, both nineteenth-century and modern, is portrayed as the result of meticulous staging.
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Alejandra was born in Barcelona in 1988 and based in London. She is a visual artist, lecturer and facilitator. She holds a degree in Sociology from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Fine Arts with a Masters in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). Her work has been exhibited and published internationally at the National Portrait Gallery (UK), Photo Miyota (Japan), FotoFever (Paris), Somerset House (UK), Finnish Museum of Photography (Finland), Wuhan Art Museum (China) or PhotoEspaña. Her work has also been recognised in the Jerwood / Photoworks awards or published in the British newspaper The Guardian. Alejandra’s work is part of private and public collections such as the Arts Council Collection in England and the Pla Nacional de Fotografía de Catalunya. As an educator she designs resources, teaches courses and facilitates creative workshops for various institutions such as Autograph Gallery, University College of London, The Photographer’s Gallery, Alexandra Palace, Portsmouth University, Photoworks, MIND Charity, Create and Northeastern University.
