It seems that Barcelona is a city that has lived with its back to the sea. At least that is the official version, that the maritime identity of the sea is closely related to the image of a postcard city. This is a fact that is contradicted by the home photographs, as they reveal the important link between the Barcelona residents and the sea, and the uses that they have made of it over throughout the 20th century as a place for recreation, work, residents and tourism.  

The family photographs of the Barceloneta People’s Archive collection of the Municipal Archive of the District of Ciutat Vella and those of the Documentation Centre of Marina and Zona Franca in the Municipal Archive of the District of Sants-Montjuïc display an intense maritime life of the citizens in many areas such as beaches, jetties, the promenade, the old xiringuitos [beach bars] and the port area. All the images selected show a tight social and also employment relationship with the sea through snapshots of maritime work, which form a memory of a not so distant past.