Theofficial racing season lasts from
March toJulyandeach race seesdozens
ofmalepigeons take to the sky, their
plumagepaintedwithvibrantpatterns
thatmake themeasily identifiable to
observerson theground, rather like team
stripes. Thecolombaires,mostly retired
men, invest thousandsof euros in their
pigeons–both inbreeding themand in
high-valuebetsplacedduring theSpanish
championship races.
“I love the relationshipbetween the
humansand theanimals, and Iwanted to
capture that,” saysCases. “This isabout
peoplewhousenature toplay.”And so,
inputting togetherhisbook, Caseshas
playedwith thephotography in the same
way thecolombairesplaywithpigeons.
The result isa spiral-boundhomage
to the surrealworldof colombicultura.
Thebookopenswith saturated shots
of the iridescentpigeons inflight, but
quickly the focus shifts to theactivities
of thecolombaires themselves– their
eccentricitiesas theychase theirprize
pigeonsacross the landscape, rescuing
themandurging themon; thecareful
paintingof theplumage; and thequiet
momentsbeforea race. Ineachof these
images, theviewer isbeing invited further
into thisodd, rather anachronisticworld,
where it’snot about being the fastest or
strongest, but themost amorous.
Onpublication,
PalomaalAire
waswell
receivedbycriticsbutwas seldomheard
of outsidephotographycircles. Earlier
thisyear, however, thebookwas included
inPhaidon’s
ThePhotobook:AHistory,
Volume III
,whichprompteda second
editionof
PalomaalAire
tobe released
lastmonth.
“Thebook isanearflawless integration
offinepicture-makingwithappropriate
bookcraft,”writephotographerMartin
Parr andcriticGerryBadger in
The
Photobook
. “Asanobject,with its stiff
cardcovers, spiral bindingandgraphic
excellence, it seems to reflect the sport, an
activityalmost surreal in itspointlessness
yetnomore so thanmany societal rituals.”
ricardocases.es, realfec.es
Norwegianflies toAlicante fromOslo,
Bergen,StavangerandTrondheim.
Bookflights,ahotelandarental carat
norwegian.com
Clockwise
from far
left
⁄
Birds take a
breakbefore
a race; a
colombairewith
hisbirds; one
of theprized
pigeons
