Mundo Hispánico versus Life: “Spanish Village” de W. Eugene Smith . Un gran ensayo sobre fotografía y sociedad en España 1950
Los documentos que se encuentran disponibles en la Web sobre fotografía antigua española o realizada en España son, relativamente, pocos.
Se pueden dividir en dos grandes apartados:
- Los pequeños estudios sobre un fotógrafo y su obra. Normalmente realizados con ocasión de una exposición. ( pienso, por citar algunos, los del Ministerio de Cultura). Cada vez con mayor calidad,y prácticos para una idea de la obra de un autor.
- Las tesis doctorales que, poco a poco, se van realizando sobre fotografía ( ejemplo las comentadas en este blog recogidas en lo e -prints de la Complutense).
Ahora me permito presentarles un excelente ensayo sobre fotografía y sociedad española en una época muy significativa de la historia en España como fueron los años 50 del pasado siglo.
Si añadimos a su calidad que es de licencia creativa commons el agradecimiento se debe añadir a la calidad del texto. (pdf de descarga libre y uso libre con mención del autor)
ORTIZ-ECHAGÜE, J., "Mundo Hispánico versus Life: “Spanish Village” de
W. Eugene Smith y el debate sobre España en revistas ilustradas
(1949-1952)" en:
Communication and Society/Comunicación y Sociedad, vol. XXVII, n. 1, 2014, pp.23-57.
Article / Mundo Hispánico versus Life: “Spanish Village” de W. Eugene Smith y el debate sobre España en revistas ilustradas (1949-1952)
Abstract /
Around 1950 there was an intense debate about U.S. aid to
Francoist Spain. American magazines such as Look and Life devoted
attention to the Spanish issue, and used photo essays to visually argue
their positions. This article seeks to examine how this controversy was
created through these photo essays that appeared in American magazines,
the reaction of the Spanish public, and the response to American critics
by magazines such as Mundo Hispánico and Semana. These cases
demonstrate how part of the debate was also an image campaign structured
around photo essays published in said illustrated magazines.
El ensayo recoge la influencia que tuvieron las fotografía recogidas en revistas americanas, Life especialmente, sobre la situación de las gentes en España, y la correspondiente contestación que tuvieron por parte de revistas españolas.
Todo ello explicado, muy bien por cierto, en el contexto político de aquel momento que se manifestaba por el rechazo al gobierno de Franco por una parte y, por otra, con la guerra fría en todo su "esplendor" lo que hacía, a su vez que España, como territorio, tuviera importancia estratégica.
Dicho esto, mejor se lee en el texto, solo citar algunas frases del mismo para animarles a su lectura, repetir que es un gran texto de "fotografía y sociedad"
A photograph of the First Communion of the Curiel-Montero daughters opened the first page of the photo essay. The Curiel-Montero’s were one of the families that collaborated closely
with Smith (fig. 6). The photograph shows the mother closing the door to her home while her five daughters await her. One of the girls, Lorenza, was dressed in white, ready to go to the local church to receive Communion. The ground appeared to be rocky and the walls more or less dilapidated. Overall, what drew the readers’ attention were the boys, who, not only not dressed for the occasion, but are completely naked. The photograph perfectly illustrates its title: a “Spanish village” living “in ancient poverty and faith”.
with Smith (fig. 6). The photograph shows the mother closing the door to her home while her five daughters await her. One of the girls, Lorenza, was dressed in white, ready to go to the local church to receive Communion. The ground appeared to be rocky and the walls more or less dilapidated. Overall, what drew the readers’ attention were the boys, who, not only not dressed for the occasion, but are completely naked. The photograph perfectly illustrates its title: a “Spanish village” living “in ancient poverty and faith”.
The next pages review diverse aspects of life in the village, under a markedly critical point of view: the roman plow still in use, fights over the dividing of plots, the traditional spinning wheel (fig. 7) and the threatening presence of the Civil Guards, frowning and positioned against a rear lit background (fig. 8).
What appeared in the magazine was a result produced by Bernard Quint, who chose the images from Eugene Smith’s photographs42. To reduce Smith’s more than one hundred images to just the seventeen that were published,
- Curioso este detalle pues hoy se hacen unas mil fotos digitales para luego publicar apenas 10 en una revista. O como recientemente he leído un fotógrafo dice, y le creo, hacer 20.000 fotos de una carrera de coches para seleccionar unas decenas.
Ted Castle, one of Smith’s assistants in Spain, remembers: “We spent approximately one whole damned day carefully preparing the scene, and the photographing took at least three hours”44. The people being photographed later realized how much work was dedicated to setting the scene. Lorenza Curiel, the girl that appeared in the first image of the photo essay, for example, had received her First Communion a month earlier, which meant that
when Smith arrived she put on her white dress exclusively for the photograph, while her sisters and brothers were dressed –or not dressed– as if it were any other day.45 The photography was more of a symbolic illustration of “poverty and faith” than a document in
the strictest sense of the word. Smith, however, had no problem recognizing that to him, it was much more interesting to offer an “honest” image, in accordance with his principles, than aspire to “objectivity” that, in practice, was unattainable46.
when Smith arrived she put on her white dress exclusively for the photograph, while her sisters and brothers were dressed –or not dressed– as if it were any other day.45 The photography was more of a symbolic illustration of “poverty and faith” than a document in
the strictest sense of the word. Smith, however, had no problem recognizing that to him, it was much more interesting to offer an “honest” image, in accordance with his principles, than aspire to “objectivity” that, in practice, was unattainable46.
Es curioso como el fotógrafo-recordemos que esta serie de fotos de Eugene Smith figura en todos los libros de fotografía, no tiene inconveniente en "crear una foto" como un fin artístico , en vez de recoger la verdad que tiene ante sus ojos.
- Es tan, tal, verdad la que crea el fotógrafo que constituye la verdad que permanece en la historia.
Señalar que estas fotos impactaron a grandes fotógrafos de su tiempo
In Robert Frank’s opinion, “Spanish Village” was “the best known photo essay that had been published in Life”50. In the coming weeks, Smith received a rainfall of letters congratulating him on his
work. Many of these letters were from photographers and friends.
The photographer Ansel Adams, for example, wrote to Smith telling him that his photo essay on Spain was “one of the great jobs”:
work. Many of these letters were from photographers and friends.
The photographer Ansel Adams, for example, wrote to Smith telling him that his photo essay on Spain was “one of the great jobs”:
Finalmente señalar curiosamente que la Dirección General de Turismo por esos mismo años, década de 1950, encargaba a fotógrafos de todas las regiones de España fotos que luego iban a ser publicidad del Régimen de Franco.
Pues bien en dichas series figuran no pocas fotos que enseñaban la pobreza del campo y sus gentes en la España de esa época como imagen "típica" para atraer el turismo.
Fotógrafo anónimo. Fotografía antigua Guadalajara. Arando. Vintage photography. Plowing in Guadalajara Spain c. 1950
Fotografo Contreras. Fotografia antigua Guadalajara. España. Campesinos. Vintage photograhy farmers, harvest Guadalajara Spain
Fotógrafo Calderón. Foto Niño con perro y aldea. Vintage photo Spain 1950. Boy and dog near the village. Sunset. Photographer Calderon
