"The Catalans, photographers of a century" at the Museum of the History of Catalonia

The Museum of the History of Catalonia inaugurates on January 18 Els Català, photographers of a century, an exhibition that allows us to delve into the huge photographic legacy of Pere Català i Pic, Francesc Català-Roca and Pere Català i Roca, three photographers of the same lineage and three leading exponents of photography in Catalonia. In addition, the exhibition highlights the figure of Maria Àurea Català, trained at the Llotja, who took part as a retoucher in the photographic adventure with her father and siblings. His images are not only a testament to the artistic and cultural movements and currents that took place throughout the twentieth century, but are also part of the iconography of the country's history.

In 1839 the first official photographic procedure in history, the daguerreotype, was introduced, and the term photography was used for the first time, and in 1880 a photograph was printed for the first time by photomechanical means. From 1909 to 2009, three members of the Catalan family worked as photographers and left us a hundred years of testimony, which allows us to travel through the time and space of a particularly turbulent twentieth century. Everything they captured through optical and chemical procedures, now much simpler with digital photography, enriches our memory.

His images are not only a testament to the artistic and cultural movements and currents that took place throughout the twentieth century, but they are also part of the iconography of the history of our country. The exhibition invites us to find common ground between the authors and to reflect freely on the extraordinary communicative and evocative capacity of photography. And yet, to recognize the trajectory of the three photographers, who were witnesses and protagonists of some of the most important events and milestones in the Catalan history and culture of the twentieth century.

Pere Català i Pic (1889-1971), his daughter Maria Àurea (1920-1993) and their sons Francesc (1922-1998) and Pere (1923-2009) were born in Valls and in 1931 they moved to Barcelona. where they remained until the end of their lives. Several adverse circumstances truncated the studies of the three photographers, but their restless disposition and eagerness for knowledge forged a self-taught training. They worked tirelessly and chance led the three photographers to witness or even be the protagonists of some of the most important events and milestones in Catalan history and culture in the 20th century. Maria Àurea Català, trained at the Llotja, took part, as a retoucher, in the photographic adventure with her father and siblings.