Paris Photo 2024 : deux siècles de photographie de Gilles Caron à Richard Avedon, du polaroid à l'IA

 

 

Un Cartier-Bresson espagnol inconnu

 

La belle surprise du salon se trouve allée B, numéro 44, le stand de galerie Alta, une galerie andorrane, dont c’est la première venue à Paris Photo. Le bruit circule vite durant le vernissage. “Il faut s’y rendre, c’est une découverte”.

 

 

Mais comment l’œuvre de Masats a-t-elle pu être autant ignorée ? Pancho Saula, entre deux visiteurs pressés d’en savoir plus nous glisse : “La raison ? Elle est assez simple. Il a travaillé seulement onze ans, entre 1953 et 1964. À partir de cette année-là, il s’est arrêté parce qu’il a été embauché par la télévision espagnole pour faire des documentaires. Et donc, pour lui, la photographie, c’était un moyen de gagner sa vie. Il ne se considérait pas artiste. Le fait que ces tirages aient survécu jusqu’à maintenant, c’est un miracle? Certains, sa femme les a récupérés à la poubelle.” En effet, un miracle, tant ce travail est émouvant et juste.

 

 

Le galeriste rajoute : “C’est une Espagne qui est noire, c’est l’Espagne de Franco, c’est l’Espagne de la dictature dans les années difficiles de l’après-guerre, mais il réussit à photographier ce qu’il voit avec un énorme respect, sans faire des photos faciles de misère, il y a un énorme respect dans toutes ces photographies.”

 

 

 

---

 

Thousands of photographs will be available for professionals, collectors, artists, and enthusiasts to discover, revisit, love, or dislike over three days. Paris Photo is a fair where galleries present their best artists.

 

An Unknown Spanish Cartier-Bresso

 

The delightful surprise of the fair is found at Alley B, number 44, the booth of Galeria Alta, an Andorran gallery making its debut at Paris Photo. Rumors spread quickly during the opening: "You must check it out; it's a discovery."

 

On the walls are black-and-white photographs from the 1960s. Many are discovering the name of the author: Ramon Masats, a Catalan born in 1931 and who passed away in 2024. His universe depicts a Franco-era Spain that feels timeless. The streets of Pamplona during San Fermín, a wildly popular festival. A black-and-white aesthetic and a perspective immediately associated with humanist photography.

 

But how could Masats' work have been so overlooked? Pancho Saula, amidst two visitors eager for more information, shares: "The reason? It's quite simple. He worked for only eleven years, from 1953 to 1964. After that year, he stopped because he was hired by Spanish television to make documentaries. For him, photography was just a way to earn a living; he didn't consider himself an artist. The fact that these prints have survived until now is a miracle—some were rescued from the trash by his wife." Indeed, it is a miracle, given how moving and authentic this work is.

 

The gallery owner adds: "It’s a dark Spain; it’s Franco’s Spain; it’s the dictatorship during the difficult post-war years. Yet he manages to photograph what he sees with immense respect, avoiding easy pictures of misery; there’s profound respect in all these photographs."

 

The analogy with Cartier-Bresson is evident in this image of a priest playing football; Pancho Alta readily agrees with a smile: "The photo from the series of the seminary has led many to call him the Spanish Cartier-Bresson due to the decisive moment captured. When you see the ball and the hand, that moment is absolutely magical; I believe Cartier-Bresson would have loved to take this photo."

 

Ramon Masats at Galeria Alta, Stand B44.