Lumes is a tribute to a disappearing way of life in Galicia. In this region of northwestern Spain, the slow and relentless advance of progress has systematically dismantled a traditional lifestyle that dates back centuries.
In Galician, lumes is a polysemous word that once referred to homes, evoking the fire lit in inhabited houses a source of warmth and the heart of domestic and communal life. That fire symbolized life itself and served as a gathering place for families and communities. Today, however, lumes is more commonly associated with the forest fires that devastate the region each summer.
These fires are a direct consequence of environmental degradation, rural depopulation, and industrial forestry practices. Small farms and scattered villages that once dotted the Galician mountains have given way to vast pine and eucalyptus plantations highly flammable monocultures that ignite easily in the dry summer months, sending smoke across Europe.
Lumes is the first photographic project in Galicia to directly connect environmental issues with rural exodus. In 2024, the project was published as a photobook of the same name, thanks to the IV Joana Biarnés Grant from the Photographic Social Vision Foundation. The book sold out that same year.
