Laia Abril is a Spanish photographer and multiplatform storyteller whose work relates to femininity. Abril's books include The Epilogue, which documents the indirect victims of eating disorders, and A History of Misogyny: Chapter One: On Abortion, about the repercussions of abortion controls in many different cultures. On Abortion won Photobook of the Year award at the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. In 2018 she was awarded the Tim Hetherington Trust's Visionary Award to work on A History Of Misogyny, Chapter 2: On Rape Culture. For the long-term project A History Of Misogyny, in 2019 she was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Hood Medal and in 2020 she was awarded the Paul Huf Award from Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.
Life and work
Abril was born in 1986 in Barcelona, Spain. She gained a degree in journalism in Barcelona. She moved to New York City to study photography at the International Center of Photography. In 2009 she enrolled at Fabrica research centre, the artist residency of Benetton in Italy, where she worked as a staff photographer and consultant photo editor at Colors magazine for a number of years. Since 2010, Abril has been working on various projects exploring the subject of eating disorders: A Bad Day, a short film about a young girl struggling with bulimia; Thinspiration, which explores the use of photography in pro-ana websites; and The Epilogue, documenting the indirect victims of eating disorders, through the story of the Robinson family and the aftermath of the death of Cammy Robinson to bulimia. Critic Sean O'Hagan, wrote in The Guardian, that The Epilogue "... is a sombre and affecting photobook... dense and rewarding... At times, it makes for a painful read. From time to time, I had to put it down, take a breather. But I kept going back." Her extended study of misogyny thus far includes A History of Misogyny: Chapter One: On Abortion, about the repercussions of abortion controls in many different cultures. Work is ongoing to produce A History Of Misogyny, Chapter 2: On Rape Culture. Her other projects include Femme Love, on a young lesbian community in Brooklyn; Last Cabaret on a sex club in Barcelona; and the Asexuals Project, a documentary film about asexuality.
Publications
Publications by Abril
Laia Abril. PHotoBolsillo. Madrid: La Fabrica, 2016.. Spanish.
Thinspiration. Self-published zine, 2012. Designed in collaboration with art director Ramon Pez and Guillermo Brotons.
Tediousphilia. Lausanne: Musée de l'Élysée, 2014.. Designed in collaboration with art director Pez.
The Epilogue. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2014.. Designed in collaboration with art director Pez.
Lobismuller. Mexico City; Barcelona: Editorial RM, 2016.. With a text by Abril and designed in collaboration with art director Pez.
A History of Misogyny: Chapter One: On Abortion. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2018..
Laia Abril: Suyay, Centre de la Photographie de Genève, November 2018.
Group exhibitions or exhibitions during festivals
From Here On,Centre d'Art Santa Mónica, February 2013. Curated by Joan Fontcuberta, Erik Kessels, Joachim Schmid and Martin Parr.
Fotografia 2.0, PHotoEspaña, Madrid, June 2014. Curated by Joan Fontcuberta. With Diego Collado, Pablo Chacón, Manuel Fernández, Miguel Ángel García, Alejandro Guijarro, Albert Gusi, Juana Ghost, Roc Herms, Darius Koehli, Reinaldo Loureiro, Daniel Mayrit, Oscar Monzón, Noelia Pérez, Jordi Pou, Arturo Rodríguez, Txema Salvans, Miguel Ángel Tornero, Jon Uriarte and Fosi Vegue.
On Identity, Gallery Sous Les Etoiles, New York, September–October 2014. With Jen Davis, Olya Ivanova, Lindsay Morris and Chris Rijksen.
A History of Misogyny, Chapter One: On Abortion,Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, 2016.
2014: Shortlisted, First PhotoBook award, Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, Paris for The Epilogue.
2016: Revelación Award PhotoEspaña.
2018: Tim Hetherington Trust's Visionary Award, an award of £20000 to work on A History Of Misogyny, Chapter 2: On Rape Culture.
2018: Shortlisted, Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2019 for A History of Misogyny: Chapter One: On Abortion. The other shortlistees were Susan Meiselas, Arwed Messmer, and Mark Ruwedel.
2018: Photobook of the Year award, Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, Paris for A History of Misogyny: Chapter One: On Abortion.
