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Juan Oleaga, the blacksmith. Maruri-Jatabe (Bizkaia), 1999. Mikel Martínez. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

My first knowledge of the art and trade of the blacksmith (errementaria, in Basque) came in childhood. I was no more than nine or ten years of age when, on a Saturday morning, my mother tasked me with a most peculiar errand: I was to help a neighbour walk a cow to the blacksmith’s in Maruri-Jatabe, a nearby locality some nine kilometres from Urduliz (Bizkaia), my native village. I was asked to follow from behind with a stick in my hands and herd the animal should it stop moving or not keep up pace, an apparently straightforward task. But what started out as an excursion —I was rewarded with a small package of assorted biscuits for the road, much to my delight— became a never-ending and exhausting day. (more…)