Francesc Catala-Roca

Spanish culture grew lethargic after the civil war. Economic hardship, the absence of great figures such as Bunuel Garcia Lorca, and Dali, among others, who were either in exile or dead, and an oppressive social environment constituted a fertile terrain for cultural mediocrity. That's why the fresh and energetic contribution of Francesc Catala-Roca (1922-98) was so unusual; his direct way of making images had few immediate precedents in the country's culture. He was the first of a brilliant generation of photographers that emerged in the '50s. Until recently denied any real public recognition, they are now considered one of the most important creative phenomena in recent Spanish culture. Gabriel Cuallado, Ramon Massats, Francisco Ontanon, Joan Colom, and Carlos Perez Siquier were among Catala-Roca's creative peers, and, like him, they embraced the documentary and neorealist photography of the time, evidenced as well in W. Eugene Smith's and Inge Morath's reportage on Spain in the early '50s.

Francesc Catala-Roca Images:
Sunset On The Diagonal
Sunshade Wood
Tossa de Mar, 1955