“CHILDHOOD IS A KNIFE PLANTED IN YOUR THROAT”

You don’t remove it easily… ‘Scorched’ Wajdi Mouawad When I was about to be a mom, I was nervous and had many doubts as always before meeting someone for the first time, I had only one thing in mind: -I’m gonna mess up with you, I’m sorry kiddo, but one thing is for sure, I’m gonna love you... We have the romantic and idealistic idea that childhood is a magical phase, where everything is about laughs, games and fun. Innocence, it’s all about innocence. A time where nothing worries us… but childhood is BRUTAL, it determines what you are going to be. Every step as an adult will have traces of the little kid you were. It’s not everything about roses, glitter, toys, purity, blue or pink. Our childhood is the sharp knife that is forever embedded throughout our entire life. We are our past, nothing in our lives is without consequence. My challenge was to capture this side, the side nobody wants to face, because we prefer to speak about the child as the best thing the humanity has, and it’s kids, the kids are the future. But we need to confront it with all its hues, not being naive, faced as it is. I just capture what that side means to me, it is not only innocence and purity, it is not only laughs and fun and in some point, it needs to be faced. It is not because we need to change that, but because we need to have conscience and open our eyes to all realities and not only the one that is less painful. Art for me is commitment with my environment, with the eyes wide open to confront and express with my weapons, today; the camera. Azuay Lopez