Just a few Go Pro shots of my recent open water swimming experiences in the Mediterranean. Some say our sea shapes our Mediterranean character. The beautiful mess that makes up of our existence, of our land, of our identity and our beloved way of life bound to a sea that is called home by 22 nations and 3 continents.

Photo essay by Iris Mir of Holy week celebration in Tenerife, Islas Canarias. Domingo de ramos en la pasión del señor

Surf miniature shots of the latest swell in Tenerife, Canary Islands in November 2024. Taking the chance to play around with my camera, my lens and perspectives.

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan ATLAS over the volcano Mount Teide, in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Tsuchinshan (紫金山 Zǐjīn Shān, in Mandarin ) means Purple Mountain, in Chinese. The shots were taken during the comet’s last few days visiting the Earth, when it was most visible right after the sunset, and before it left us for another 80.000 years.

Correfocs (literally meaning Fire Run) is a celebration typical of Catalan Culture and Folklore that involves running the streets of old Catalan villages surrounded by fire and monstrous/mythical figures. This practice dates back to the Middle Ages and it borrows from the tradition of the  'Devil Dances' (Balls del diable), symbolizing the fight between good and evil. However, Correfocs as we know them today are a relatively new practice that took shape in the late 1970s with the death of Dictator Franco and the birth of Democratic Spain. Then, Catalan people finally had the chance to openly embrace their traditions and culture without risking prosecution.

The municipality of Valleseco, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, celebrates the annual boarding of La Virgen del Carmen.

Where the Ter River meets the Mediterranean sea. Textures and colours during a new moon sunset in l’Estartit, Spain. March 2024

G A L L O P is the result of Laia Palma’s inviting me to spend a couple of hours at her Equestrian Club, Equus Empordà (Spain). During this limited amount of time, I followed Laia around her club while she told me about the values behind the vision of the club she has been growing during the last few years. And how her unique relationship with the horses and other animals inhabiting the place make Equus Empordà a very unique Equestrian Club.

Ri Tan Gong Yuan 日坛公园, the park of the temple of the Sun, was one of my secret spots in Beijing. A place I used to go to for reflection. This balcony was one of the spots where I managed to make time to find stillness. It turned out, I wasn’t the only one relying on this sacred space to find solace and to understand the dynamics of an ever changing environment.

Forallac's charcoal pile is much more than just the recreation of a tradition. It has become a symbol of a communitarian way of life and of the preservation of a very important set of Mediterranean values. A place where people gather in an environment in which old lifestyles and ways of being are brought back to life.