Portraits of presence – Pro Bono Art Project
Sanctuaries like Rancho Fino Mallorca hold a quiet kind of courage. Day after day, they care for animals who have been neglected or abandoned — not for applause, but for survival. Their work is raw, real, and endlessly human. And yet, sanctuaries often live on fragile financial ground, dependent on donations that come and go.
“I didn’t want to portray pain — I wanted to show presence,” says photographer Grimalt de Blanch. “These animals have stories, but they also have character and trust. My lens was there to witness, not to extract. It was important for me that each portrait felt like a conversation — quiet, equal, and attentive.”
The answer was a new strategy — to bring artists into these spaces, to capture the dignity of each animal honestly, without sentimentality or spectacle. A horse with scars. A goat learning trust. A dog meeting your gaze without fear. These portraits become more than images. They are encounters.
Art returns to one of its most vital roles: to pause us, to move us, to compel us. Collectors acquire not only an artwork, but a narrative of survival. Artists extend their practice into advocacy. Sanctuaries gain a reliable, ongoing source of support beyond traditional donations.