photographs by javier castán
As a Catalan, photographer Javier Castán has always been drawn to Spain’s human towers, also known as castells. For this series, shot for Atmos Volume 9: Kinship, he revisits his roots to show the centuries old tradition in an entirely new light.
Castells are often associated with their usual environment of the bustling city. But through these images, Castán highlights how the most fundamental parts of kinship that these human structures display—unity, connectivity, and collaboration—can also be found throughout the natural world.
“[Castells] show an intricate connection, a collaborative goal that reminds me of the cooperation we find in ant colonies and structures, and in mycelium, a root structured fungus that unites the trees under the ground,” he explains.
Like other structures in nature, these human towers are meant to be unbreakable and rooted strongly in the ground. Collaborative strength, respect, courage, and one common goal serves as the connective tissue that unites them. Everyone has a place and a purpose, all intertwined with one another—a mutual unspoken understanding; an undeniable display of kinship.
PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCTION Yours, DIGITAL ASSISTANT Pablo de Pastors PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT Alex Kuhlencordt ART DIRECTOR Cristina Ramos SET DESIGN ASSISTANT Anna Morell STYLING Stephania Yepes STYLING ASSISTANT Alba Tudela POST PRODUCTION Rodrigo Quirante RETOUCHING The Black Room Studio EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION Rebecca Watson PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Víctor Nuñez PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Nikita Klepach, Andrea Florez LOCATION La Granja Ability Training Center SPECIAL THANKS Castellers de Sarrià DEDICATED TO Carlos Alexander & Luís Ramos ADDITIONAL FILM CREDITS: DIRECTOR Mutant DP David Okolo 1ST AC Ferran LLerena EDITOR Estel New Roman COLORING Dylan Hageman SOUND Joan Escriu SOUND DESIGN Angel Sound Studios Graphic Design Studio Albert Romagosa Executive ProDUCTION Rebecca Watson Production Coordinator Víctor Nuñez Production AssistantS Nikita Klepach, Andrea Florez LOCATION La Granja Ability Training Center
This story first appeared in Atmos Volume 9: Kinship with the headline “Arm in Arm.”
Atmos Volume 09 explores family, biodiversity, wildlife, symbiosis, and conservation—a collection of stories that remind us that we exist in a web of not only relationship, but kinship.
Javier Castán Depicts the Castells, Catalonia’s Human Towers
Javier Castán Depicts the Castells, Catalonia’s Human Towers
