I met Julia in 2007, during a campaign for Reale Seguros. I was almost a child, or at least that's how I feel when I remember myself back then, entering a new division of advertising and large productions, after having already started my first jobs with the agency and with photography. José Luis Zamorano, who at that time opened the door for me to another creative level of projects, had led me into that universe of more complex, more ambitious campaigns.
And there Julia appeared.
It wasn't a jarring appearance. It was something more subtle, harder to forget. I remember her French-influenced style, her way of moving, her upbringing, her strong yet welcoming character, her sense of humor, her way of directing everything without losing delicacy. She was the director, the woman who held the piece, the vision, the entire orchestra. But she was also, from the very first moment, someone who made me feel welcomed. She saw me. And that doesn't happen very often.
The extraordinary part came later. From the next day on, we started emailing each other. And what began there was not a typical professional relationship, nor a conventional friendship, nor one of those bonds that depend on frequency or utility. Already in those first emails, there was a depth that disarmed me. We talked about harmony, about pain, about the soul, about essence, about how some artists create from a wound and others from a state of inner beauty. I wasn't used to that kind of conversation with that intensity, with that naturalness, with that level of truth.
From then on came shared projects, meetings in Madrid, walks, meals, long conversations. But, above all, something less visible and much more important arrived: a complicity that has not stopped growing in almost twenty years. Julia has been present at many of my beginnings, in many ideas, in many moments of enthusiasm, doubt, pain, and reconstruction. She has been a confidante, an advisor, a thought partner, a collaborator in projects like IMILOA or Miradas, and one of those few people with whom you don't need to catch up to remain close.
There are relationships that don't fit into any known category. They are not exactly family, nor friendship, nor collaboration, nor the romantic memory of an era. They are something else. A shared space. A frequency. A certainty. Julia occupies that territory for me.
