CASTROSIN, one of Europe’s most promising new auteurs, speaks a seductive language of truth, passion, and process.
Carlos
Who is Carlos Castrosin?
An image maker. I see myself less and less as just a photographer. I build pictures. Photographing is just the end of my process. Everything is staged and prepared. I love taking care of the details. For me, it's like painting on a white canvas: I come up with an idea, draft it, share it with my team, and then we bring it to life. I'm sarcastic by default, and I love pulling references from outside fashion and incorporating them. The result is mixing completely random things under the label of fashion.
That’s a good point. So then, where does fashion fit into all of this?
Fashion is the container, not the content. I love it because it lets me mix so many ingredients and hold them together. I'm drawn to its layers. There's never just one reading in my work. There's always something underneath. I'm still fighting to understand fashion. It's so complex. And that's the best part, in my opinion. Discovering the hidden answers keeps me on track.
Let's go back to where it started. Why photography, of all things?
When I was around 8 years old, my father was working as a taxi driver and found a camera in the back seat of his car. He gave it to me, and I incorporated it straight into my playing routine. I remember shooting my toy cars under my desk lamp, putting Post-its in front of the bulb to change the color of the light... Going to my family to show my creations... I was having so much fun doing my little car campaigns. Since then, I was so obsessed that I wanted a better one. I saved some money from the birthdays, and I bought a "proper" camera by 13. And it never stopped after that.
And why Castrosin?
It was my grandmother's surname. Angelita... She never really stood out in the family. Now her name is on every little thing I do. I like that reversal. My work is deeply connected to my family. I do what I do because of them, and using her name is my intentional way of never forgetting where I come from. I also love how Castrosin sounds, to be honest. It is strong and different, just like my work.
That sounds amazing. Last question. Is there anything you can say about the upcoming projects?
Yes, new projects are coming this year. But I've learned I don't have to be shooting all the time. Sometimes the real upgrade is letting ideas mature and deepening the concepts. My father always said, 'Everything has its moment.' I used to hate it when he said that. Now I'm starting to embrace it. So, no pushing, these new projects will happen when they need to happen.
