Barcelona

A journey through over a century of Barcelona’s history with 150 photographs

This book is a visual tribute to the city which covers more than a century of its history through photography. A unique document of its cultural, architectural and social evolution that delves into Barcelona’s soul and history with images from internationally renowned photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gerda Taro, Kati Horna, Dora Maar, Margaret Michaelis and Helmut Newton, mixed with others by Barcelona photographers like Francesc Català-Roca, Colita, Ramon Masats and Leopoldo Pomés, among others.

The photographs capture Barcelona’s emblematic streets as well as the people who have lived in and transformed them over the years. Using outdoor images – of La Rambla, Passeig de Gràcia, the port and the neighbourhoods, for example – and others of some unique interiors – such as the Gran Teatre del Liceu or the city’s hidden nooks and crannies – the book documents the interaction between its urban spaces and its people.

In all it includes works from over 70 male and female photographers, with a more notable presence of women in this edition, ranging from pioneering photographers like Gerda Taro, whose camera documented the intensity of the Spanish Civil War, or Colita, with her unique eye for everyday life and social struggles, to the big names of documentary photography such as Pilar Aymerich, known for capturing emblematic moments of the feminist movement and the city’s culture.

Private and public archives in the city have also been researched, in particular the municipal Photographic Archive of Barcelona.

The book is organised chronologically in five chapters and invites readers to rediscover Barcelona from its beginnings to the global benchmark it has become. Each section helps you to get to know the city, from perspectives as diverse as demonstrations under the Second Republic, urban scenes from the post-civil war years or the iconic 1992 Olympic Games, till you reach the vibrant Barcelona of today.