Al-liquindoi is a cultural association that provides training and support to documentary photographers and visual storytellers globally and produces content driven projects in exhibition format, print, and digital media. Over the years we’ve encouraged photographers to explore and expand on forms of visual storytelling, helped develop independent voices in the global media, and engaged audiences on critical issues through documentary practise. Al-liquindoi was founded in 2004 by Jessica Murray and Gonzalo Höhr.
Jessica Murray grew up between Kenya, England, and the United States. She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain. In 1997, after completing a degree in History at Skidmore College, Jessica moved to New York where she worked first for the Center for Cuban Studies and then for Magnum Photos. In 2001 and 2002 she helped coordinate a series of photography workshops in Cuba for Maine Photographic Workshops. Inspired by those intensive short-term trainings in 2002 she founded her own documentary workshop program in New York, the Williamsburg Workshops. In 2003 she was invited to organise a workshop with Alex Webb in Seville, Spain, where she met Gonzalo Höhr. In 2004 they launched the Al-liquindoi Workshops together in Cádiz. Beyond all the projects she channels through Al-liquindoi, over the years Jessica has sat on many juries and nominating committees in the world of documentary photography. She’s also had various teaching engagements and has curated a number of exhibitions internationally.
Gonzalo Höhr studied at the universities of Malaga and Madrid, and at the Escuela de Fotografía y Técnica de la Imagen de Madrid (EFTI) Much of his subsequent training came from working as a photographer’s assistant both in the studio and in the darkroom and collaborating, freelance, with different local newspapers and magazines. In Madrid he began to work for various NGOs like Medicos del Mundo and Acción Contra el Hambre. He continues this work today, travelling extensively on assignment. In 2003 Gonzalo participated in a workshop with Alex Webb at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporanea in Sevilla where he met Jessica Murray. In 2004, after returning to Cádiz for a job as director of the photo desk at La Voz de Cádiz, he launched the Al-liquindoi Workshops with Jessica. Gonzalo left the newspaper and returned to freelance photography in 2007. He takes editorial and commercial assignments and also dedicates time to his personal projects. www.gonzalohohr.es
A history of the Al-liquindoi Workshops:
From 2004 until 2013 we collaborated with different financial and cultural institutions to provide photography workshops in cities around Spain including Cadiz, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Madrid. Under the direction of some of the days top visual storytellers, the workshops were open to participants from around the world, all accepted on portfolio review. These 5-day intensive workshops allowed participants to explore and build on their craft, and helped create a lasting network for a generation of emerging photographers in Spain and abroad.
These workshops included:
- June 2004. Cádiz. Alex Majoli, Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb, Donovan Wylie, Ernesto Bazan, Matías Nieto König and Navia . In collaboration with Cajasol and APC
- October 2004. Bilbao. Bruce Gilden and Eli Reed . In collaboration with Bilbaoarte
- March 2005. Barcelona. Antonin Kratochvil and Donovan Wylie. In collaboration with Lafotobcn and Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona
- June 2005. Cádiz. Bruce Gilden, Chris Steele-Perkins, Clemente Bernad, Maya Goded and Richard Kalvar. In collaboration with Cajasol and APC
- September 2005. Bilbao. Donovan Wylie and Matías Nieto König. In collaboration with Bilbaoarte
- April 2006. New York. Alberto García-Alix, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Maya Goded and Patricia Mendoza. In collaboration with King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU
- April 2006. Barcelona. Clemente Bernad and Donna Ferrato. In collaboration with Lafotobcn and Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona
- June 2006. Cádiz. Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb, Christopher Anderson, Matías Nieto König and Ricky Dávila. In collaboration with Cajasol and Diputación de Cádiz and UCA
- September 2006. Bilbao. Ron Haviv and Simon Wheatley. In collaboration with Bilbaoarte
- January 2007. Madrid. Donna Ferrato, Matías Costa, Pep Bonet and Sheryl Mendez . In collaboration with Medicos del Mundo and La Casa Encendida
- February 2007. Mieres. Antonin Kratochvil. In collaboration with APFA
- June 2007. Cádiz. Donna DeCesare, Jim Goldberg and Navia. In collaboration with Cajasol and Universidad de Cádiz
- October 2007. Barcelona . Martín Weber and Pep Bonet. In collaboration with Lafotobcn and Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona
- January 2008. Madrid. Anna Blackman of Photovoice and Pasqual Gorriz . In collaboration with La Casa Encendida
- June 2008. Cádiz. Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb, Nina Berman, Pep Bonet, and Sheryl Mendez, , Christopher Anderson, Matías Nieto König and Ricky Dávila. In collaboration with Cajasol, Diputación de Cádiz and the Baluarte de la Candelaria
- October 2008. Amorebieta . Olivia Arthur. In collaboration with Centro Zelaieta
- November 2008. Barcelona. Antione D’Agata and Philip Blenkinsop. In collaboration with Lafotobcn and Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona
- June 2009. Palma de Mallorca. Bruce Gilden. In collaboration with Es Baluard
- September 2009. Madrid. Gervasio Sánchez. In collaboration with La Casa Encendida
- November 2009. Barcelona . Antione D’Agata, Bruce Gilden, Carl de Keyzer, Chien-Chi Chang, Chris Steele-Perkins and Mark Power. Part of Magnum Workshop Barcelona, in collaboration with Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona and Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya
- June 2010. Palma de Mallorca. Graciela Iturbide. In collaboration with Es Baluard
- September 2010. Palma de Mallorca. Alberto García-Alix . In collaboration with Es baluard
- March 2011. Barcelona . Antonin Kratochvil. In collaboration with Phacto
- October 2011. Barcelona. Franco Pagetti and Peter van Agtmael. In collaboration with Centro de Recursos Internacional por la Paz at the Castillo de Montjüic
- May 2013. Mazarrón. Antonin Kratochvil and Manuel Outumuro. In collaboration with Festival Fotogenio