Barcelona 1938 David Seymour. I’m not sure if that is the Boqueria market or Barceloneta market. If the latter it would make it 18 September 1938 on which more than 40 people were killed. Sant Antoni market was also hit. Original here at Magnum.
Category Archives: Photographers
Marina Ginestà in colour
A colourised version of the famous and iconic Marina Ginestà photo standing on the roof of the Hotel Colón in Plaça Catalunya on 21 July 1936. In fact she was never a militia fighter. She worked through the war as a journalist and as an interpreter for the Soviet correspondent Mijaíl Koltsov. This colourised version of Hans Gutmann (Juan Guzman)’s original is by Jared Enos. Great job and gives impression of photo a little overexposed due to the sunlight which adds authenticity
Marina Ginestà RIP
Sad to announce that Marina Ginestà, the woman in the iconic photograph by Hans Guttman of the Colón Hotel in July 1936, died last week in Paris aged 94. I would have loved to have met her. La Vanguardia.com
Photomural by Josep Renau
Striking photomural by Josep Renau, exhibited at the Spanish Pavilion of the 1937 Paris World’s Fair (as was Guernica), contrasting a woman from Salamanca in bridal dress and a militiawoman from Barcelona – in trousers as she strides confidently forward.. The legend on the glass under the militiawoman confirms this message: “The New Woman of Spain has rid herself of the superstitions and misery of her past enslavement and is reborn and capable of taking part in the celebration of the future”
“Superimposed on a glass wall, and standing side by side, are life-sized photos of two Spanish women. One woman is dressed in a traditional, elaborately constructed, and richly decorated wedding dress. The other woman, a Republican militiawoman, is wearing an open-collared shirt and trousers. The woman wearing the traditional dress appears weighted down by its voluminous multi-layered skirt and long sleeves. Her arms hang down limply by her side, her mouth is tightly closed, and she stares straight ahead. In comparison, the fabric of the trousers and shirt of the militiawoman is lightweight enough to appear to be moving as she strides confidently forward. Her arms convey strength and movement, as does her left shoulder, which seems to more toward the viewer. The woman’s mouth is open and she appears to be issuing some sort of command. Her eyes are piercing and intent. Her head is uncovered and her hair is pulled off her face. Unlike the bride in the other photograph, this woman appears to be walking out of the display straight towards the visitor. The only adornment on her clothing is a leather strap across her shoulder–possibly a gun holster–investing her with an aggressive and militaristic persona. ”
Explaining the intended message of Renau’s photomural,Jordana Mendelson writes:
…Renau contrasted the Arxiu Mas image of traditional culture with the forward stride of a young militia woman. The photomural
used the visual comparison to reinforce a message about the liberation of women under the Republic: shedding her age-old
traditional dress, the new woman of the revolution would find freedom in her fight against fascism.The legend on the glass under the militiawoman confirms this message: “The New Woman of Spain has rid herself of the superstitions and misery of her past enslavement and is reborn and capable of taking part in the celebration of the future” (Graham 112 n.7).
For visitors to the 1937 World’s Fair, the trousers on the miliciana would have been the most obvious sign of Spanish women’s new emancipation and alignment with aggressive political action. As Nash explains … for [Spanish] women the wearing of trousers or monos [blue
overalls] acquired an even deeper significance, as women had never before adopted such masculine attire. So for women, donning the
militia/revolutionary uniform not only meant an exterior identification with the process of social change but also a
challenge to traditional female attire and appearance.
Robert Capa, farewell of the brigades
Augustí Centelles on Orwell
Francesc Català-Roca on Montjüic
Retrophotograh of Hans Gutmann
Remarkable retrophotograph by Ulrich Eumann, an expert in the work of Hans Gutmann, better known in Spanish as Juan Guzmán. It shows several tiznaos (the name for vehicles armoured with steel plates) in Plaça Catalunya on 20 July 1936 combined with the square today complete with a Bus Turístic. It is amazing that within one of day of the coup the anarchist workers set to welding these plates on trucks and luxury Hispano-Suizos. More here in German
Ione Robinson in Barcelona
Child in Barcelona 1938 by Ione Robinson.
“In September 1938, Robinson arrived in Barcelona. Over the course of two months, Robinson produced a series of drawings and paintingsin the Catalan munitions factories, refugios, hospitals; and on the Ebro front with the Republican 5th Army . As she writes in her 1946 memoir, A Wall to Paint On, “…in the drawings I have made here in Spain I have tried to express-through simple line-the agonizing effect of war upon the innocent victims: the women and children…through what I felt and saw in their eyes-and hands.” She left Spain at the end of October, 1938.” More here http://ionerobinson.org/
Guillermo Zúñiga
Photo by Guillermo Zúñiga, somewhere on the Madrid Front.
More information here about the discovery of this remarkable photographer, who has been called the Robery Capa of Madrid
http://www.publico.es/390260/guillermo-zuniga-ha-nacido-otro-capa Plus brilliant archive here: http://www.publico.es/especial/lopez-zuniga/