Cristobal was, along with his wife Paquita, one of the first to approach the Bitxa to take a portrait in Zuheros. Every summer morning, they go out early in the morning to walk around the square before the sun goes down. They are a lovely couple.
When we arrive in a new village, we set up the exhibition with the portraits of previous villages, on the side of the Bitxa. And, as we make portraits, we add the new ones. It is very interesting to see how people come to the exhibition to see the people we have already portrayed. People like to see their neighbors portrayed and this is usually a good incentive for them to participate.
In one of those corridors, around the exhibition, we heard how they pointed out and said the names of the photographed people. There was something that did not add up. Every time they referred to Cristobal’s portrait, they called him Miguel. Later we asked why people called him Miguel. There was a laugh. It seems that, in the old days, it was a tradition that the godfathers or godmothers chose the name of the newborn and registered it. However, in some cases, if the mother was not happy with the chosen name, at home they called it what she wanted, thus having the official name and the family name. So, it seems that it is common, at least in the province of Cordoba, to find cases of elderly people with one name in the registry, but that in day to day life they are known by another. What’s more, surely there are few in the village who know the official name.
And this was the case of Cristóbal, or Miguel.