The everyday life of great literature, in new exhibit

One is hard-pressed to think of an award with more prestige in its field than the Nobel Literature Prize. Now, a new Barcelona exhibit aims to bring viewers a bit closer to the everyday lives of the authors. Called ‘Passejades de Nobel,’ roughly translated as ‘Nobel Walk’ in English, is a project by photographer Kim Manresa and journalist Xavi Ayén. Starting in 2005, the two have been interviewing laureates in their homes or to the backdrop of where their stories are set.

The idea, explained Manresa in interviews to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), was to take photos of the writers in a natural setting, giving a window onto their day to day lives – no posing or using a flash. There are 23 Nobel Literature laureates featured in total, including illustrious names like Gabriel García Márques, Dario Fo, José Saramago, Günter Grass, J.M. Coetzee and Orhan Pamuk. The exhibition comprises 96 photos in total, complemented by text written by Ayén, narrating details to getting the meet the writers and fragments of the interview itself.