Ramón Masats. The Silent Photographer

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Sanfermines, 1957-60 ©Ramón Masats / VEGAP.

Ramon Masats is the most influential photographer of Spain's 1960s generation, a reputation he earned through his instinctive approach to composition, the radicalism and irony with which he confronted post-war cultural clichés, and his temperamental conviction to photograph with complete freedom.

The show covers the first period of Masats' career, from his beginnings in 1953 until 1965, when he left photography for more than a decade to focus on film and television. The exhibition highlights some of the images from his early work, always with original prints, from a period when he was experimenting and still uncertain whether to pursue photography of a more abstract nature or photojournalism, the path he would soon follow. This section includes, for the first time, the 15 exquisite vintage prints that the artist grouped from his first photographic challenge: the series on Las Ramblas.

Also featured are photographs from his seminal books: Neutral Corner, his masterpiece with texts by Ignacio Aldecoa (accompanied by a projection of the exquisite first edition), and Sanfermines, Masats’ first photobook (curated and designed by the artist himself).

The exhibition is completed by works to which he dedicated himself intensely, such as Arcos de la Frontera and portraits of notable personalities created for the magazine Gaceta Ilustrada and other publications, as well as an extensive selection of iconic images combined with a few unpublished photographs.

Masats chronicled Spain under dictatorship, with images that avoid stereotypes and clichés and, in addition to being an exceptional document, show us how his powerful gaze always found empathy for ordinary people.

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