Sor Isaura Marcos Sánchez (Los Santos, Salamanca, 13 January 1959) is a cloistered nun of the Poor Clares order at the Monastery of Pedralbes whose photographs are based on a peculiar reflection technique that avoids the use of digital retouching programs. The whole reality of the monastery is what shapes the subject matter of her works,[1] which are dedicated exclusively to charitable purposes.
Sor Isaura Marcos | |
|---|---|
 (2018) | |
| Personal | |
| Born | Isaura Marcos Sánchez 13 January 1959 Los Santos, Salamanca, Spain |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Parents |
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| Sect | Poor Clares at the Monastery of Pedralbes |
| Profession |
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| Senior posting | |
| Profession |
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Biography
editIsaura was the youngest of the six children of Benedicto Marcos Curto and Isaura Sánchez Gómez. As a teenager, she was attracted to monastic life. When in Barcelona, where one of her brothers lived, she decided to visit different ecclesiastical communities. She was deeply impressed by the Franciscan charism of the Poor Clare Sisters of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes, founded in 1326 by Queen Elisenda of Montcada, and therefore decided to enter the order in 1976, when she was seventeen years old. In 2009, she was initiated into the field of photography in a self-taught way.[2] Her creations are the expression of her way of understanding the contemplative life, following the rule of Saint Clare of Assisi of 1211.[1][2]
Artistic career
editIn 2009, she began her unique photographic work using a curious technique based on reflections.[1][2][3][4] Although the result of her work might suggest otherwise, she never uses digital image retouching programs.[1][5] Her work also includes abstract compositions.[6][7]
In March 2019, on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to Rabat, Morocco, 114 photographs taken by Sister Isaura illustrating the Canticle of the Sun[8][9][10] of St. Francis of Assisi were exhibited at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, where Pope Francis officiated a multitudinous mass to commemorate the 800 years of presence of the Franciscan Order in the African country.[11]
On June 23, 2024, in the cloister of San Damiano, Assisi, she presented the photographic exhibition of the book Clara de Asís, espejo fuera del tiempo (Clare of Assisi, mirror out of time), with 51 photographs taken in the monastery of Pedralbes. The photographs[12] were also exhibited in the different rooms in which St. Clare stayed throughout her conventual life.[13]
She has collaborated with several charities including: Caritas Internationalis,[14] Acció Solidària, UNHCR,[15] Fundació Arrels,[2] and Fundació Convent de Santa Clara.[16]
Selected works
edit- Clara de Asís, espejo fuera del tiempo. Kuster, Niklaus; Jou, David; Rodríguez Branchat, Rosa; & Marcos, Sor Isaura (photographs). (Ediciones Invisibles, 2024)
- En la teva llum / En tu luz. Poems by David Jou Mirabent; photographs by Sor Isaura. (Editorial Viena, 2022)
- Todo va a salir bien. Microrrelatos en tiempos de pandemia. (Editorial San Pablo, 2020)
- Reflejos del Cántico de las criaturas. Creative photography with commentary. Text by Rosa Rodríguez Branchat. (Editorial San Pablo, 2019)
- Calendar Belleza reflejada. Photographs inspired by each of the months of 2020. (Editorial San Pablo, 2019)
Photography
editPhotos used as bookcovers by Antoni Matabosch i Soler:
- D'on venim. On hem d'anar. (CPL, 2024)
- La penúltima paraula. Viena Edicions, 2023
- El pelegrinatge ecumènic del Vaticà II als nostres dies. (Centre de Pastoral Litúrgica, 2023)
- Sociedad plural y religiones. Editorial (San Pablo, 2022)
- Ecologia integral i supervivència. Editado por el Arzobispado de Barcelona, 2019.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Bonet, Txell (10 August 2020). "Isaura Marcos: 'La realitat m'avorreix'" [Isaura Marcos: 'The reality is getting closer to me']. Ara.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d Arenas, Manuel (20 November 2017). "Sor Isaura Marcos: 'La fotografía es una forma de plegaria'" [Sister Isaura Marcos: 'Photography is a form of prayer']. elperiodico (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Reflejos en el monasterio de Pedralbes" [Reflections in the Pedralbes Monastery]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 28 June 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Marcos, Isaura (6 December 2020). "Reflejos contemporáneos de las celdas de día del Monasterio de Pedralbes". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Isaura Marcos, la fotògrafa dels reflexos, a 'Signes dels temps'" [Isaura Marcos, the photographer of reflections, in Signes dels temps]. 3Cat (in Catalan). 30 June 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Domingo, Oriol (24 February 2013). "Hermanos sol y luna" [Brothers sun and moon]. hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com. Lavanguardia.es.
- ^ "La bellesa en El càntic de les criatures = La belleza en El cántico de las criaturas = The beauty in The canticle of the creatures = La beauté du Cantique de créatures = La bellezza del Cantico delle creature : Monestir de Pedralbes". datos.bne.es (in Spanish). 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Serra de Manresa, Fra Valentí. "Llibres: Reflejos del Cántico de las Criaturas" [Books: Reflections of the Canticle of the Creatures] (PDF). Catalunya Franciscana (260).
- ^ "Visión del Monestir de Pedralbes : con el Cántico de las Criaturas de Francisco de Asís" [Vision of the Monastery of Pedralbes: with the Canticle of the Creatures by Francis of Assisi]. BNE. 2016.
- ^ "Sor Isaura Marcos: 'El claustro es fuente de inspiración infinita'" [Sister Isaura Marcos: 'The cloister is a source of infinite inspiration']. Vida Nueva - Revista y portal de noticias religiosas y de Iglesia (in Spanish). 24 May 2019.
- ^ En la Piel del Peregrino - La visita del Papa Francisco a Marruecos [In the Skin of the Pilgrim - Pope Francis' visit to Morocco]. youtube.com (in Spanish). 1 April 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Juvanteny i Colell, Marta (3 July 2024). "Crònica de l'exposició fotogràfica d'Isaura Marcos a Sant Damià d'Assís" [Chronicle of the photographic exhibition of Isaura Marcos in Sant Damià d'Assís]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "A San Damiano la 'Festa del Voto'" [In San Damiano the 'Vow Festival']. www.assisiofm.it. Assisi OFM. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Reflejos de solidaridad". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Garage 23, arte contemporáneo para ayudar a los refugiados". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 27 November 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Santa Clara inaugura demà una exposició benèfica". Regió7 (in Spanish). 8 June 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.