Titanic, 2017. All photos by José Castrellón. Courtesy the artist
Strange Parallels
Looking closely at the other Panama City
By José Castrellón
A humongous conch shell, fenced in by chain-link. A tourist trap shaped like a lopsided ocean liner. An alligator with a rare genetic mutation that makes its entire body white. These images and more make up Palindrome, the Panamanian artist José Castrellón’s photographic exploration of Panama City, Florida. Castrellón embarked on the project after growing curious about the Gulf Coast town’s connection to the same-named capital city of his birth country, 3,400 miles south along the Caribbean Sea. He found answers in old newspapers and historical records, but also in less-expected liminal spaces: kitschy gift shops, empty beaches, construction zones, military bases. Across these photographs, Castrellón affords the same level of attention and meticulousness to each site and scene, whether it’s a symbol of commerce or a totem of spirituality. The resulting project is part dossier of evidence, part catalogue of visual metaphors; Castrellón documents disorienting parallels between the two Panamas while simultaneously telling a story about a place where nature and artifice meld, like the colors of the sky as the sun sets over the Gulf.
Conch, 2017
Pearl, 2018
Mall Entrance, 2017
Pyramid, 2017
3 Crosses, 2017
Fort Tyndall, Air Force Base, 2017