Exhibition

Beyond the Road

Since moving to London in 1997, Spanish photographer Ester Segarra has become one of the most prolific photographers of the underground metal scene. She also shoots at Roadburn, one of Tilburg’s most intriguing music festivals. That’s how we got to know her and how we were able to invite her to create her first solo show at SEA Foundation’s gallery in 2011.

Roadburn is an acclaimed meeting ground for a broad, international community of metal bands determined to honour the roots of rock’n’roll. Based in Tilburg Roadburn is a culture, founded on diversity and the vision to create kaleidoscopic new worlds, yet it’s one that encompasses the traditional and the experimental, the psychedelic and the doom-laden. All are bound by a spirit of open-ended exploration and personal expression, for whom rock is a continuity to tap into rather than a series of set pieces to re-enact.

Underground cultural niche

To make the people of Tilburg more aware of the niche and the cultural life that surrounds Roadburn, and to reach out to it’s worldwide audience, SEA foundation invited Spanish photographer Ester Segarra. She is known for her redefined aesthetics of the extreme metal world, as she produced many of its most iconic, intimate and memorable metal images. Ester Segarra not only captures visually both the scope and the unity of this culture. To bring such distinctive worlds to light takes a rare level of insight and artistic sensitivity. These are qualities that that Barcelona-born photographer has brought to the underground rock scene for the past decade.

First solo show

Ester Segarra’s life story is also intriguing. It is not one with a focus on money nor stability or safety. Nothing else than what she felt within; to become a good photographer mattered to her. This urgency combined with will-power — to just to never give up, got her where she is today.

Ester Segarra’s photography can be viewed in a unique and exclusive exhibition at Project Space Tilburg. The presentation will feature some of her most renowned portrait work and offers visitors a peek into the intriguing international scene of Roadburn. Beyond the Road is Ester Segarra’s very first solo show. It’s also the very first show that SEA Foundation organises at Project Space Tilburg. The show will be will be something to be remembered, as for the future, Segarra might very fast come to dominate in the niche of metal photography.