TRIBESA commonplace image from our Mediterranean coast was suddenly transformed into an authentic anthropological revelation: the Beach Tribe.Groups of families and friends set themselves up by the sea, prepared with everything they could possibly need for an entire day in the sun. The tableaux repeated itself: beach umbrellas, towels, iceboxes, balls, Spanish omelettes, the children, the dog, grandma and an inflatable mattress. All this, perfectly juxtaposed, seemed like a poem of customs that revealed, with humour, colour and tenderness, the profundity of a whole society.This photographs of modern-day beach groups are based on the studio portraits of ancient tribes who proudly posed in traditional costumes next to their prized possessions. The sky and the sea become the painted backdrop of the studio, and the sand seems as if it were sprinkled on the studio floor.The lighting and the theatricality of the groups add an element of fantasy to the portraits of real people in their natural surroundings. That enlightens banal situations and elevate them to a state of exception.I call this way of social photographic study Antropología Fantástica.Occidental middle class suffers an identity crisis created by current economical situation.I gave this project a second name: “Spanish Tragicomedy”.