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Andoni Beristain is a Basque director, photographer, and graphic designer born in a small village in northern Spain and now working between San Sebastián and Barcelona. In his many projects, he uses vivid, sharply defined colors, detailed close-ups, characters and objects that shape a surrealism rich with meaning and immediate messages.
Perhaps a destined artist, Beristain was sketching shapes and colors since childhood, as a natural observer of the world, analyzing and photographing it in all its countless shades.
As he recounts:
“The environment I grew up in, the architecture, the mountains, the coast… they are very important to me. The vibrant colours of everything that surrounded me during my childhood have greatly influenced what I do. Growing up in a small town where absolutely nothing happened unconsciously exercised my imagination.”
Source: Creative Boom
And so, as curious spectators, we watch and wonder about the meanings he wishes to convey, instantly catching his colorful messages. Struck by his detailed forms, sharp lines, and bright tones, we are overwhelmed by objects that send strong messages, as in one of his early projects, Pieza Rota, where life can change in just three seconds when you are diagnosed with cancer.
But Beristain’s creativity and boldness produce images of great emotional impact, capable of expressing his desperate turmoil. That colorful, sliced ball pierced by a screwdriver, or the eggs impaled by screws twisting into pain, convey anguish more powerfully than many words ever could.
From that same period come Pieza Redonda — exploring the themes of body weight, obesity, and social pressure — and Pieza Madre, a tribute to unconditional love, loss, and death.
In this series, published in a book of the same name, the artist commemorates the death of his mother, confronting the disorienting pain of loss and wishing she had left him a manual with instructions on how to “go on living.” Sixty-three photographs, one for each year of her life, are united by a radiant, sunlit yellow that links each image in the story like a fil rouge. Through poetic yet direct images, Beristain depicts his path toward reconciliation with life.
Over the past nine years, he has also worked with prestigious brands such as Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, Veuve Clicquot, Adobe, Netflix, and Braun. Even in the world of fashion, he stands out for his captivating use of color – always essential, always protagonist – illuminating both models and garments. The Kenzo perfume campaign, with its pink glass bottle balanced on a cube-shaped sky, recalls Pop Art, the iconic Campbell’s Tomato Soup can, and Antonio Carena’s trompe l’œil skies.
Equally intriguing are the titles of his projects: Free Time at the studio, featuring, among other whimsical images, a buttered fried egg hanging from a clothesline like a deliciously surreal piece of laundry, and Dieta Mediterranea, a triumph of vegetables in precarious balance, and the Global Campaign for Legend Ebikes. He also photographed women fighting breast cancer for the 2024 Izan Iñurri Calendar, a Basque feminist association supporting cancer awareness.
For Beristain, photography is a means of storytelling — of experiences, thoughts, ways of life, and political ideas; a lifelong companion intertwined with boundless creativity.
It is no coincidence that his studio for creative direction, graphic design, and photography is called Tremendo — a word that captures wonder, admiration, passion, and epic achievement, all reflected in his refined design and extraordinary results.
Among his numerous clients — in addition to those already mentioned — are The Social Hub, Delsey Paris, 25 Hours Hotels, and Absolut Vodka. His work has been featured in many exhibitions and leading publications such as Creative Boom, Cultura Inquieta, Visual Pleasure, El País, and Collateral.
