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"In the apparent simplicity of Rosa Codina's images we perceive a profound and unembelished message - moments of a vital force that she is capable of capturing with the maximum simplicity and naturality - these photographs dont try to add anything to what we see, don't oblige us to think in any determined way, on the contrary, they invite us to take pleasure in what we see and to search inside ourselves to rediscover the meaning of that which we all carry within us and that is named childhood." Eugenia Ortiz.

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Princesses and fairies with dirty faces, tiaras and long dresses, the doll carried on the bicycle, ready to be animated at any moment. These girls inhabit a territory that, from our adult world, we can only brush against, ruffling the edges, the only adult in this series is a disembodied hand, a leg, that leads one of the girls, a mane of blonde hair, along a street.

Territory made of dreams and games, chocolate and dressing up. Misty landscapes  included in this series serve to underline this imaginary and yet real territory. The dragon is far away and we forget the camera's eye to share in these precious, never to be repeated, moments. Privileged permission to delicately enter these girl's world, no other way except photography to go there. The old stone house conjures up mediaeval worlds, these girls are like fairies, the "encantadas" of southern french and catalan mythology that live by streams and rivers.

These photos clean the eyes as we look, like air after a storm, leaving only the crystal vision of childhood. Enter a mythological place beyond judgement, fragile moment tunneling into the collective unconscious, follow the girl into the woods, twisted trees behind and sun rays that illuminate her rich clothes, princess showing us the way. Later we find her sleeping, with her faithful teddy bear, in a building site, like the story of the peasant of Bistande (village in the south of France) who finds a fairy sleeping beside the well. Momentarily, seperate realities are joined in this fragile moment.

We have the impression of a parallel world, behind and beyond our normal world, where these girls will never grow up, archteypes moving freely outside our normal gaze, only these photos testify to their existence, like the famous photos of fairies that Conan Doyle promoted, only to be debunked. But here there is no proof for or against, we dont have to ask for anything to be proved, we follow these fairies, these beings without doubting, taking them on their own terms, holding our breath that they dont escape, leaving us with photos empty of all presence, as if we could scare them away with our rough adultness.  2 girls playing in the sunlight beneath a bookshelf. Blink and suddenly they are not there.

One of the functions of art is to give form to the invisible : the embodiment of worlds that we can only access through these images. When you have seen them, there is no turning back, you know the fairy tales are true, you know that magic has not disappeared from the world. Shhhh, dont speak, dont intervene, watch quietly as these fairy girls unfold their reality, not needing anybody or anything else.

Pedro Soler
Barcelona
29.05.2007