- Joan Alsina is the first Catalan photographer to exhibit at FotoNostrum.
- The Robert Doisneau exhibition is on loan from the Atelier Robert Doisneau, managed by his daughters. It is the first time that it has been exhibited in Barcelona.
FotoNostrum presents two exhibitions that share space and time, but with two different visions of art: the Catalan Joan Alsina and the French Robert Doisneau.
Textures de Joan Alsina
Joan Alsina, with a long and valued career in the world of fashion and entertainment, has photographed numerous international stars such as Naomi Campbell, Enrique Iglesias, Lewis Hamilton, Eva Herzigova, Karolina Kurkova, Alek Wek and Irina Shayk. With the compilation exhibition of his work, worked on for many years, he has the honor of being the first Catalan photographer to exhibit at FotoNostrum since the opening of the room in 2022.
In this exhibition, Alsina presents Textures, a book that collects images with great care.
In the words of Alsina himself, Textures defines the philosophy of my work; a job of research that aims to capture the essence of matter, the energy of the soul embodied on clear and diaphanous backgrounds until obtaining a result of an intimate and staff.
The skin is my canvas. I explore and work on the skin with all kinds of materials (mud, earth…) almost always in black and white.
Textures is also a tribute to the great references of contemporary art Catalan; Antoni Tapies and Joan Brossa. Also American Expressionism Artists abstract like Jackson Pollock, from the world of photography, like Herb Ritts, or the overwhelming and timeless work of Michelangelo.
About Joan Alsina
Throughout his career, Joan Alsina has exhibited at the Reina Sofia Museum, IVAM in Valencia and in international exhibitions in the United States and Cuba, among others.
He has carried out campaigns for Samsung, Sony, Suárez, Chrysler, Opel, Inditex, Zara, Lycra, Dupont and recently for Pronovias and Unilever.
Alsina works for the main fashion magazines and has photographed many celebrities among others Noemi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Alek Wek, Giorgio Armani, Louis Hamilton, Esther Canadas and Isabel Presley.
Le Temps Retrouvé de Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau: le temps retrouvé presents fifty of the most outstanding images by the French photographer, made between 1934 and 1971. From different periods of his career, this exhibition transports us with his photographs to many of his most popular themes. It includes snapshots of children playing in the street, portraits of some of the greatest minds of the time and culminates in the famous Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville.
With the city of Paris as the main protagonist, Doisneau masterfully portrays dynamic scenes with unknown characters in public spaces through a romantic perspective, juxtaposing the ordinary with humor and wit, and finding beauty in the routine of everyday life.
The images exhibited in this exhibition allow us to assess an artist who, although shy and reserved, he knew how to capture and pay homage to iconic moments from a not so distant past.
This exhibition is on loan from L’Atelier Rober Doisneau, managed by his daughters. It is also the first time that it is exhibited in Barcelona.
About Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau was born in 1912 on the outskirts of Paris. A self-taught photographer, he began to photographing his city at the age of sixteen. After graduating with a degree in printmaking and lithograph at the École Estienne in Paris in 1929, Doisneau began working for André Vigneau, an advertising photographer, in whose studio he was exposed to the avant-garde movement.
In 1932 he sold his first photographic story to the now extinct newspaper Excelsior, and in 1934 He started working for the Renault automobile factory, as an industrial photographer. During the years of World War II, he was a soldier for six months, and then worked as a member of the Resistance, photographing the occupation and Liberation of Paris. He also forged documents for the Resistance, putting in practice his degree in engraving and lithography.
After the war, he returned to advertising and magazines, working for French Vogue between 1948 and 1952. Although he was surrounded by the most illustrious personalities of his time, photographing members of the elite, his heart and passion remained to photograph the streets of Paris. During the 1950s, Doisneau joined the XV Group, a organization of photographers dedicated to defending photography and defining its status as artistic expression. Although Doisneau worked as a fashion photographer, photographer advertising and war photographer, he is best known for his urban photography, capturing images of the daily life of strangers in the streets of Paris.
About FotoNostrum
FotoNostrum is a photography center dedicated to the dissemination, exhibition and promotion of the work of great references of the genre, as well as emerging photographers.
The mission is to broaden the understanding and appreciation of photography and its role in evolution of contemporary culture, stimulating dialogue between photographers.
In 2022, FotoNostrum presented three major exhibitions; the first was dedicated to Steve McCurry, continued with one on Helmut Newton and later, Avedon Behind the Scenes, a visual study of Richard Avedon’s way of working, carried out by his Studio Manager and Master Printer, Gideon Lewis.
FotoNostrum annually organizes two important International Awards for photography: the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for women photographers and the Pollux Prize, which this year reaches its 19th edition.
Exhibition Dates: From January 26 to March 19, 2023
Address: Calle Diputació, 48. 08015 Barcelona
Web: www.fotonostrum.com