Iván Ibáñez
Spain
Biography
Iván Ibáñez is a Spanish documentary photographer. His work focuses on the documentation of popular traditions, rituals, and cultural expressions rooted in rural environments, with a particular interest in collective memory and the relationship between people and their territory.
Through a direct and honest photographic approach, his work explores ancestral practices that still survive today, portraying them from a contemporary and respectful perspective. His interests lie in the margins, in everyday life, and in those gestures and celebrations that shape identity and a sense of belonging.
He is currently developing long-term projects related to popular culture and intangible cultural heritage in Spain.
Project
“Los Harramachos” by Iván Ibáñez is a documentary photography project that focuses on the rich popular masquerade traditions of rural Spain, documenting the harramachos — costumed figures that appear in winter and carnival festivals, especially around places like Navalacruz (Ávila) — where ancestral ritual, community identity and symbolic performance converge in visually striking, often black-and-white imagery. These masquerades blend ancient folklore with contemporary celebration, marking the cycle of seasons, renewal and collective belonging through masks, traditional garb and ceremonial presence in the streets.
Ibáñez’s work captures the dynamic interplay between historic ritual and living culture, showing how these masquerade figures embody fertility, transformation and social continuity within community life.
