Quasi Oasis
In his series Quasi Oasis Colombian photographer, Sebasatián Mejía, takes on the old task of navigating the city of Santiago, Chile, as something new, accompanied by his large format camera. He follows the trail of a particularity: the survival—in some cases eccentric—of different types of palm trees inserted, in solitude, in the middle of the city without a premeditated urban landscape design. The photographer elaborates a secret map as he goes along.
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
The palm tree, because of its dimension and verticality, represents a landmark much in the same way as an ancient obelisk. It does not commemorate any leader or ruler, nor does it represent the extinct imperial ideal, and it does not celebrate culture.
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
They live as reminders of a natural world that once preceded our concrete cities, acting as points of reference for drivers and pedestrians, not just as spatial landmarks, but also, in some way, as existential landmarks.
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
They are evidence of a parallel reality subject to an independent natural order that is not confined to man’s creations and our cities, functioning as marks of a prehistoric world that once preceded the city and will most probably outlive it.
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
© Sebastian Mejia from the series “Quasi Oasis”
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Sebastian Mejia
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