ARTISTIC PORTFOLIO

by Rosa Franco Mendoza

Photobook DECLARED VALUES

Eighteen years of building a memory

DECLARED VALUES is a documentary project developed between 2007 and 2025 about the Palace of Posts and Telegraphs in Barcelona, one of the city’s most iconic buildings.

For eighteen years, I photographed its spaces, transformations and ways of inhabiting it, building a visual archive that documents the memory of an institution, its architecture and the people who made it possible.

The project takes the form of a 184-page photobook, bringing together a selection of images created over this period and inviting reflection on heritage, work, time, and the transformation of shared spaces.

More than documenting a building, DECLARED VALUES explores the human traces that remain when places change.

Building the book

In 2023, I devoted all my energy to the Postgraduate Programme in Creation and Reflection at IEFC, where I worked on editing the book.

The process began with Roger Grasas, continued with Alex Llovet, and I finally completed it with my tutor, Josep M. Llobet.

During this process I understood that editing wasn't simply about selecting photographs. It was about deciding what I wanted to tell, what had to remain and what could disappear.

The archive accumulated over the years contained far more images than could ultimately be included in the book. The task was to find a structure that could turn this collection of photographs into a narrative.

And here is something that has been fundamental for me: an eighteen-year project needs time to find its own form.