Photographer and Cinematographer Alvaro Martin Blanco was born in Bilbao, Spain. He grew up surrounded by raw, industrial structures of steel, iron, and concrete hemmed in by the Basque mountains and the Cantabrian Sea. This juxtaposition sparked his interest in documenting the relationship between architecture and its environment and led him to study fine arts and photography, earning his BFA from the University of the Basque Country.

 

In 2008, these interests took form in Ezkerraldea, a photographic series exploring deindustrialization in Bilbao. The work was later presented as part of the collective exhibition On the Road.

 

From there, Alvaro earned a master’s degree in Cinematography in Spain and developed a career working as a cinematographer on narrative films, commercials, and other projects throughout Europe and later the United States.

 

Alvaro combines his skill in creating compelling narratives with his passion for documenting the relationship between architecture and its surroundings to create still images and architecture films that tell the story and share the sense of the spaces he documents.

 

Alvaro is based in Chicago.