Roger Grasas

Mapping the Ephemeral

Born in Barcelona in 1970, Roger Grasas is a documentary photographer whose work examines the transformation of the contemporary landscape as a result of the interconnections between technology, capitalism, and globalization. With a degree in philosophy and training in photography and art theory, he began his career in 1998 documenting development projects for various NGOs as well as for UNESCO. Since then, he has carried out projects in the Middle East, Europe, and other regions, with an approach that combines critical analysis with a keen visual sensibility. His work has been exhibited internationally and has received awards such as the PHotoEspaña Discoveries Award in 2018.

Artistic manifesto

Roger Grasas’s photography is a kind of cartography of the ephemeral. His work explores the intersection between technology, landscape, and postmodern society, documenting the contrasts and paradoxes between tradition and the unstoppable advance of the globalized world. With an aesthetic that oscillates between the documentary and the conceptual, his images capture the tension between past and present, between the local and the global, transforming the everyday into a visual testimony of change. His international exhibitions and publications have established his work as a benchmark in depicting the impact of postmodernity on the landscape.

Mapping the Ephemeral

The project at BYPILLOW Crosstown (Madrid)

Roger Grasas wanders the streets of Lavapiés without maps or predefined routes, letting the city guide him. Following the method of photographic drift, he captures a neighborhood in constant flux, where tradition and modernity coexist naturally. His images, displayed throughout the hotel, turn every corner into a window onto the neighborhood’s life: streets, faces, and everyday scenes that reflect its energy and the authenticity of its inhabitants. For Grasas, photography is not just a means of documentation, but also a valuable method of connecting with reality and a language capable of amplifying the emotional realm. At BYPILLOW Crosstown, his photographs do more than just decorate; they tell stories of transit and permanence, of identity and change. Ultimately, they are an invitation to discover Lavapiés with an open mind and to chart your own path through its contrasts and the stories that reveal its unique character.