garde in the ads and political posters by Pere Catala`
Pic (1899–1971).
The tragedy and rupture caused by the Spanish
Civil War were exemplified by the death of the
young Nicolas de Lekuona (1913–1937), avid disciple
of the avant-garde movements, whose photomon-
tages have elements floating in a gravityless surrealist
space. Concurrently, Josep Renau (1907–1982) dis-
covered the work of John Heartfield and used collage
forsocialandpoliticalcriticism,exemplifiedbyhis
great work ‘‘The American Way of Life’’ created
after during his postwar exile in Mexico. The Spanish
Civil War became a testing ground not only for new
weapons but also for a new style of photojournalism.
Newspapers and agencies sent their best photogra-
phers: Robert Capa, Hans Namuth, David Seymour
‘‘Chim.’’ Nevertheless, Spanish coverage of the war
continues to prove difficult to research, as many
archives were destroyed during the war and after it
due to the risk the material posed to photographers
who had sided with the defeated Republican cause.
One of the most complete archives remaining is that
of Agustı ́Centelles (1909–1985), who captured street
fighting in Barcelona and the despair of the exiled. A
curious case is Antoni Campan ̃a ́(1906–1989), who
combined constructivist viewpoints with pictorialist
processes (gum).
Unfortunately, the years of the Franco dictator-
ship (1939–1975) halted experimentation and solely
favored classical images of the working, religious
Spain found in the ‘‘icons’’ of Ortiz Echagu ̈eor
Eduardo Susanna (1884–1951). Some of the best
photographers (Centelles, Renau, Sua ́rez) were
forced into exile. Yet, slowly photography revived.
In the 1950s, the reportages of Jose ́Sua ́rez (1902–
1974), Otho Lloyd (1885–1979), and specially Fran-
cesc Catala ́ Roca (1922–1998) captured dynamic
images with humor and spontaneity. The Madrid
studios of Jalo ́n Angel, Amer-Ventosa, or Juan
Gyenes created syrupy official portraits, while the
Hungarian-born Nicolas Mu ̈ller (1913–1999) made
studio portraits and worked in photojournalism.
The news agency, EFE, founded in 1939, boasts
an extensive photographic archive mainly related
to the official propaganda of the regime. However,
it is possible that the best photography of the 1950s
is still undiscovered in the archives of numerous
photographers located in outlying provinces. Man-
uel Ferrol’s (1923) work on Spanish emigration or
the small town portraits of Virxilio Vieitez (1930),
share a synthesis of document and emotion.
Another serious problem in the 1950s and 1960s
was the poor photographic infrastructure, in which
photographic clubs became rancid educational and
exhibition centers, where censorship imposed the
‘‘right’’ subjects and techniques, and most photo-
graphic activity was focused on official contests.
Despite this, some photographers catalyzed timid
renovations: Jaume Jorba Aules, Pedro Martı ́nez
Carrio ́n (1931–), Josep Marı ́a Ribas Prous (1940–),
Ramo ́n Vilalta Sensada (Catalun ̃a), Jose ́ Veiga
Roel (Galicia), or Juan Vacas (Andalucia). Also,
the so-called ‘‘Escuela de Madrid’’ group—Leo-
nardo Cantero (1907–), Gabriel Cuallado ́(1925–),
Juan Dolcet (1914–1990), Francisco Go ́mez (1918),
Fernando Gordillo (1933), Sigfredo De Guzma ́n
(1925), Ramo ́n Masats (1931–), Francisco Ontan ̃o ́n
(1930–), and Gerardo Vielba (1921–1991)—pro-
moted a more personal and subjective approach.
The magazineArte Fotogra ́fico(founded in 1952)
had the key role of connecting clubs and provided
most of the then-scarce information about the field.
Other more innovative magazines, albeit short
lived, were Cuadernos de Fotografia, Imagen y
Sonido, andEikonos. Curiously far from Madrid’s
centralism, in Almeria, the vibrant AFAL club
started its influential magazine (1958–1963) under
direction of Carlos Pe ́rez Siquier (1930–); and the
next decade in Barcelona, the so-called Gauche
Divinecultural movement, was photographed by
Isabel Steva ‘‘Colita’’ (1940–), Oriol Maspons
(1928–), Leopoldo Pome ́s (1931–), and Xavier Mis-
erachs (1937–1998).
However, the most effective renewal came through
the magazineNueva Lente, begun in 1970. Its dada-
ist tone united various tendencies that rejected
‘‘official’’ images. During its first period, directed
by Pablo Pe ́rez Mı ́nguez (1946–), it published
images that hovered between surrealism and
abstraction: Jorge Rueda (1943–), Elı ́as Dolcet
(1948–) and Juan Ramo ́n Yuste; or using elements
of everyday life (Pablo Pe ́rez Mı ́nguez and his
brother Luis (1950–). From 1975–1979, under the
direction of Rueda, the balance completely tipped
towards fiction through Rueda’s own collages, the
Yeti team (Antonio Lafuente y Felix Lorrio, both
1948), Joan Fontcuberta (1955–), and Antonio
Ga ́lvez (1928–), as with the staged scenarios of
Manuel Falces (1952–), Anto ́n y Ramo ́n Eguiguren
(1947–; 1945–), Barbara Allende ‘‘Ouka Lele’’
(1957–), and Rafael Navarro (1940–). Towards
the late 1970s, various photographers started
extensive documentary projects to capture rural
traditions before they disappeared: Cristina Garcı ́a
Rodero (1949–), Koldo Chamorro (1949–), Cristo-
bal Hara (1946–), Fernando Herra ́ez (1948–), and
Ramo ́n Zabalza (1938–). Moving from documen-
tary to studio photography to achieve wide accep-
tance were Toni Catany (1942–), with atmospheric
still lifes; and Alberto Schommer (1928–), withSPAIN AND PORTUGAL, PHOTOGRAPHY IN