Meat, Fish & Aubergine Caviar by Alex Blanco is a photographic exploration reflecting the intimate intersection of family, culture, and personal history, set against the backdrop of contemporary Odesa, Ukraine, between 2016 and 2021. Blanco, born in Ukraine in 1988 and at the time residing in the Netherlands, returned to her childhood home amid personal circumstances, documenting her parents’ daily lives as an act of communication and reconnection during a difficult period marked by her father’s illness.
The project is deeply embedded within Odesan and broader Ukrainian cultural identity, using food and family rituals to symbolize the continuity and warmth that often characterize local traditions. Through carefully composed scenes depicting meals, market visits, and home life, Blanco's photographs underscore the significant role culinary practices play in preserving cultural heritage and reinforcing familial bonds.
Exploring themes of vulnerability, nostalgia, and hope, the project captures the bittersweet reality of familial relationships shaped by long-distance migration and the emotional complexity of returning home. The work acts as a visual meditation on Blanco’s own childhood memories and personal traumas, crafting a subtle self-portrait interwoven with the lives of her parents.
Visually, the project blends color and monochrome photography, employing both vivid depictions of vibrant Ukrainian cuisine and more contemplative black-and-white portraits of Blanco’s parents engaging in routine activities. Working primarily with 35mm film, Blanco adopted an informal compositional style and maintained a long-term presence in the domestic space to foster a sense of unguarded intimacy in her images.
The project has been recognized through a dedicated monograph (Meat, Fish & Aubergine Caviar, Overlapse, 2023) and key presentations, including a solo exhibition at Fotomuseum Den Haag (2024) and inclusion in the Diagonal network’s "Stand with Ukraine" program (Stimultania, Strasbourg, 2022; Carré d’Art, Chartres-de-Bretagne, 2023; Centre Claude Cahun, Nantes, 2023). Accolades include the 2023 Nobuyoshi Araki MA-g Award (Original Photography Series), year-end photobook selections by photo-eye and LensCulture, and recognition from the Fotobus Library Award (shortlist, 2024) and the ArtsLibris–Banco Sabadell Award (2024).
