TITLE: INTO THE TRANCE STATE

The series represents the deep states of trance undergone by the mediums at the Nine Emperor Gods festival, which takes place every year at some Asian countries. The Gods will travel through the seas and possess the human mediums who will be waiting for them at the temples or shrines disposed before the sea. At their arrival, the mediums possessed by the Gods will fall in and out of a deep state of trance and perform feats which defy human logic, such as walking over fire, or perform acts of self mutilation, all to show the supernatural power of the Gods.
The Nine Emperor Gods will arrive to the human realm through the oceans, and in the precise moment of the arrival and until the moment of their departure, they will require of human mediums that they will possess along with many other Gods and Goddesses who accompany them, in order to use the mediums for purifying and cleaning the sins committed by the human society. This series represents a study of the different stages of trance that some of the mediums go through, being the case that some of the feats performed by them openly defy any logical explanations.

AUTHOR: JAVIER SÁNCHEZ-MONGE ESCARDÓ (Spain)

Javier Sánchez-Monge Escardó is a Spanish photojournalist and philosopher born in 1965 in Madrid who has travelled and lived throughout different countries in an effort to document both humanitarian and environmental causes, specially dedicating himself in the past two years to the issue of climate change and to the man-made era of the anthropocene, among other issues of humanitarian nature, such as the Rohingya refugees.
His works have been published on El País, La Vanguardia, El Confidencial, El Día, El Diario de Navarra, and about climate change through the Spanish agency Agencia EFE. Regularly he publishes on Periodistas en Español, addressed to Spanish speaking audiences.
More recently Javier Sánchez-Monge Escardó has been awarded the IPA Spanish Edition title of Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year (2017), Nominee by the LUCIE FOUNDATION for his works on climate change among four other international candidates to become the Deeper Perspective Photographer of the year 2017 and his works on Climate change were shown at the Dale Carnegie Hall in New York on October 2017.
Some of his prints have been exhibited at international photo Exhibits on behalf of the LUCIE FOUNDATION ( At the Mayors Summit , for the UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2015 -Addressing Climate Change-) or also on behalf of the Lucie Foundation on the MOPLA (Month of Photography Los Angeles). As well on behalf of the ALFRED FRIED AWARDS at the UNESCO building in Paris, and throughout different countries, such as in 2016, when travelling as part of the “Best of the Show” travelling photo exhibit organized by the International Photography Awards (IPA).
Javier Sánchez-Monge Escardó, has been awarded several international photography awards, including one second and one third place at the International Photography Awards( IPA) 2017, two second places and one third place at IPA 2016 and one second and third place at IPA 2015.
Some of his works have been awarded at the Prix de la Photographie Paris, the Siena International Photography Awards, the Tokyo awards, the Moscow awards, IPA (Spain), IPA (Philippines), the fine art Photography awards, the Monochrome awards, the ND awards and the Ipoty awards. Regarding his Environmental works exclusively, he has been awarded at the Prix de la Photographie Paris, Tokyo awards, Moscow awards, ND Awards, Ipoty awards, ND awards and as well on 2017 he has been awarded at the IPA one shot awards on climate change, awarded at IPA Spain, Nominated Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year 2017 at the Spanish IPA Edition, nominee for the Photogrvphy grant 2017 and nominee by the LUCIE FOUNDATION to become the Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year 2017.