Description
Madrid as a Work of Art. Writings on Photography in the Silver Age
Book Summary
This essay proposes an alternative look at the history of avant-garde photography in Spain, shifting the usual focus from Barcelona to Madrid. Through a careful selection of writings and key figures, the author reconstructs the intense intellectual and artistic debate that surrounded photography in the capital during the Silver Age. The reader will discover how writers, philosophers, and critics such as Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Miguel de Unamuno, and Ernesto Giménez Caballero reflected on the photographic medium, contributing to defining it as an authentic work of art and integrating it into the heart of Spanish modernity.
What is it about?
The book delves into the cultural context of Madrid during the first decades of the 20th century, a period of creative effervescence known as the Silver Age. Unlike narratives focused on Barcelona and purely visual photographers, this work rescues the voice of a generation of intellectuals who, from literature, philosophy, and journalism, theorized about photography. Figures such as Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Miguel de Unamuno, Vicente Salas Viú, Luis Bello, Josep Carner, Mauricio Amster, Cecilio Paniagua, Esteban Salazar Chapela, Máximo José Kahn, Manuel Abril, Fernando Vela, and Antonio Cánovas del Castillo are the protagonists of this story. Through their writings, it is analyzed how photography was perceived not only as a document or a technique, but as an artistic language capable of capturing the essence of modernity and of the city of Madrid itself.
Main Themes
- History of avant-garde photography in Spain, with a focus on Madrid.
- Aesthetic thought and photographic theory in the Silver Age.
- The relationship between photography, literature, and essay writing in the 20th century.
- The figure of the intellectual as a critic and theorist of the photographic image.
- Madrid as a setting and subject of artistic and photographic modernity.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at art and photography historians, students and professionals of visual communication, as well as readers interested in 20th-century Spanish culture and thought. It will also be of great interest to those seeking a less well-known perspective on artistic avant-gardes in Spain, beyond the usual names and places.
What this book contributes
- A renewed and documented vision of the development of avant-garde photography in Spain, centered on the Madrid intellectual core.
- The recovery and appraisal of figures and texts fundamental to photographic theory that have remained in the background.
- A deep analysis of how photography was conceived as modern art by some of the most prominent thinkers of the time.
- An essential reference tool for understanding the aesthetic and intellectual debate that accompanied the technical image in the Spanish context.
Technical Specifications
- Author: Huergo Cardoso, Humberto
- Publisher: Casimiro
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Photography and Photographers
- Collection: Photography
- Publication Date: November 2023
- Number of pages: 496
- Weight: 947 g
Editorial Assessment
This is a reference work for those who wish to delve into the intellectual history of photography in Spain. Its main value lies in the originality of the approach, which challenges the canonical narrative by placing Madrid and its writers at the center of the avant-garde debate. The exhaustive research and selection of texts offer a rich and nuanced perspective, making this volume a significant contribution to the study of 20th-century Spanish visual culture.