A series of images of the city created by women photographers from the 1930s through to the 1990s, on display in Pl. Carmen Balcells until 16 July. This exhibition is linked to the book 'Barcelona. Fotògrafes', co-published by La Fábrica and Barcelona City Council.
The exhibition Barcelona fotògrafes (Women Photographers in Barcelona) brings together seventy images promoting the role women have had in the history of photography in the city. The display is on from 2 June to 16 July in Plaça Carmen Balcells, a privileged spot surrounded by important cultural facilities in the neighbourhood, such as the Auditori de Sant Martí, the Centre Cívic Sant Martí and the Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez.
Barcelona fotògrafes explores the ties between the history of the city and the images created by women photographers. This exhibition is linked to the book Barcelona. Fotògrafes, edited and with text by Isabel Segura. The book is the first publication to reconstruct the history of the city through the eyes of women photographers. During the exhibition, the book will be available for people to browse at the Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez, in a special space in the foyer.
The exhibition orders the photographs chronologically, from the 1930s to the early 1990s, just when some neighbourhoods were being demolished to make way for another city, another way of doing things and of understanding and living in Barcelona.
1930s
Women photographers from other European countries came to Barcelona in the 1930s fleeing the rise in Nazism. They were attracted to the city by the political changes that had taken place since the proclamation of the Second Republic.
They were Margaret Michaelis, Dora Maar, Gerda Taro and Kati Horna. Women photographers captured a city at war from 1936 onwards. Another figure was Anna Maria Martínez Sagi, who worked as a war correspondent on the Aragonese front. Gerda Taro died on the front and other women photographers left the city on their way to different places of exile.
1940s to 1970s
The first few years of the Franco dictatorship saw women photographers spending their time on roof terraces, used as observatories, essential community centres, and in kitchens, turned into darkrooms for a few hours.
Despite being excluded from the professional world, these photographers researched and created their own discussion forums and meeting spaces. An example of these was the women’s section of the Photographers’ Association of Catalonia. Carme Garcia, Montserrat Vidal-Barraquer Flaquer, Milagros Caturla, Rosa Szücs and Rosario Martínez Rochina were just a few of the members. In addition to creating urban images, they also depicted themselves in a variety of forms, but always as photographers.
For her part, Joana Biarnés was one of the first female photographers to work for a newspaper on an ongoing basis, acting as a bridge for the next generation.
1970s to 1990s
The women photographers of the 1970s made a place for themselves in the media and helped create new languages, new media. An example of this was the magazine Vindicación Feminista. They captured urban and social tensions from El Raval to La Perona, opening up the photographic medium to new subjects who had until then been under-represented or even completely absent.
Colita, Pilar Aymerich, Guillermina Puig, Anna Turbau, Anna Boyé, Marta Povo, Marta Sentís, Pilar Villarrazo and Silvia T. Colmenero constructed an image of daily life in Barcelona, a city experienced intensely.