Montevideo is the city of Veronika's birth, and the city she leaves at 20 years of age, for Buenos Aires, along with her other self, "Camila." There, under that name, she works in an age-old profession.
Some years later, Veronika takes up photography, leaving behind her past as Camila. Thereafter, she settles in Madrid, where she completes a Master's degree in photography and carries out a project in which she photographs both Camila and Verónica in daily settings, at home: drinking mate in the kitchen, reading a magazine in the living room, having a conversation in the bedroom. This project is Veronika's reconciliation with her past, Camila. She absorbs and accepts what was once a part of her life.
In Montevideo, we come full circle. Verónica and Camila return to their country of origin to photograph themselves in the places where tourists typically take pictures of themselves, but also in places frequented and enjoyed by Uruguayans. This type of photography is part of a tradition-- that of family album photos. Uruguayan families used to keep albums for pictures of family members posing in front of monuments and their country's public spaces. In this way, two meanings unfold in these portraits of Camila and Verónica: on the one hand, that of marking one's presence in a particular place--the typical "I was here" expressed in tourist photos, and on the other hand, that of identity--the recognition of a certain belonging and pride in belonging, depicting for others the city of their origin. This, too, is a work of reconciliation--the reconciliation between these two Uruguayan women and the city they left behind. This is why the project closes with a photo of both of them on La Rambla, holding a sign that reads, "I didn't choose to be born in Uruguay. . . I was just lucky."
Mariana González Toledo
