Documenting Madrid’s Romani community with photographer Michael Damanti

In this episode I talk to Mike Damanti, a professional photographer from the United States who moved to Madrid five years ago. While on a quest for artistic inspiration, Mike came across Madrid’s Romani community.  Photographing them over many years and documenting the Romani community’s lives living on the streets of Madrid, he slowly became accepted into their circle and soon developed deep friendships. Being allowed into their lives and sharing their moments of happiness along with their darkest hours, has allowed Mike to produce a touching insight into the Romani way of life through his photos.  Mike has since become an advocate for Romani rights, and has talked about the issue at Madrid for Refugees while also exhibiting his photography which has helped give the Romani community more visibility and challenge people’s perception of who they are and how they live.  To see Mike’s street photography of the Romani community please visit his website mcxd19.wixsite.com/damanti. It is worth looking at the photos while listening to this podcast episode, as Mike and me refer to some of the photos during the interview.  Want more? Check out Mike’s Instagram and Madrid Street Photography Facebook Group  Also, if you would like to get involved with the Roma Project in Madrid or you would like a private photographic tour of Madrid please contact Mike at [email protected] The When in Spain podcast is an independently produced show. No adverts, no sponsors, no media company backing. All episodes are available to listen to free. However, my time and resources for producing the episodes are not free. It comes at a personal cost. So if you enjoy the When in Spain podcast and don’t want to see it disappear please do consider making a small contribution to help support the future of podcast.  Every listener donation, however big or small, is so valuable. For as little as $1 you can support When in Spain by becoming a Patron – and it only takes a minute. You can sign-up to become a When in Spain patron at https://www.patreon.com/wheninspain