On Thursday, October 3, the awarding of the Fotoconnexió 2024 awards was held, at the Pati Llimona Civic Center
Video of the event
✓ TRAJECTORIA AWARD: It recognizes the contributions that have been made in the field of research and the promotion of photography and audio-visual over time. Both specialized contributions and those that combine various aspects over time can be considered.
The candidates selected were:
➢ Foto Boada: It is a photography shop with a very long tradition that pays special attention to analog photography, and especially to camera repair. It was born from the passion for photography of Vicenç Boada and Antoni Campanyà, who founded what is currently known as the store, in its specialty, the oldest in Barcelona.
➢ Laura Terré Alonso: For her extensive career as a photography historian, exhibition curator and teacher. It is worth highlighting his research around the generation of Spanish photographers who formed the AFAL Group during the 1950s, the writing of monographs on Colita, Ricard Terré, Ramon Masats, Carlos Pérez Siquier or Paco Gómez among many others, as well as numerous articles from the press, from specialized and popular magazines, and the curation of exhibitions about Xavier Miserachs, the Afal Group, Ricard Terré or Gabriel Cualladó, among others. Recently, it is also worth highlighting his work at the KBr, organizing series of conferences on various aspects of contemporary photography.
➢ Joan Fontcuberta Villà: He is a photographer, visual artist, photography researcher, teacher, essayist, critic and exhibition curator, who understands photography as a philosophical art. For some time now he has been the contemporary Catalan photographer with the most international exposure in the country. Among other notable events in his career, in 2020 the Université Paris VIII granted him the title of doctor honoris causa. And since 2009 he has been president of the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia.
The candidacies were also proposed:
María de los Santos García Felguera
David Gonzalez Ruiz
Manolo Laguillo Menendez
Silvia Omedes Alegre
Civic Center Pati Limona
Carles Mitjà Caballé
Heliográfica Factory
And the winning candidate was Laura Terre Alonso
✓ INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR AWARD: It is intended to distinguish any type of initiative carried out around photography and audiovisual (publication, exhibition, activity, etc.) that has been carried out or inaugurated since previous call for awards (July 2023) to the current one.
The candidates selected were:
➢ Exhibition “The domestic camera. The photographic hobby in Catalonia (ca. 1880-1936)”, curated by Núria F. Rius at the KBr Fundació Mapfre: A fundamental exhibition to understand the development of amateur photography in our country, putting focus on different realities with a class and gender perspective and with a magnificent selection of exhibited pieces resulting from the collaboration of many public and private institutions as well as private collections.
➢ Publication “Buscando lo imposible. Anthology of texts on the origin of photography”, by Rebecca Muttell and Martí Llorens: To be the first compilation in Spanish of texts by the pioneers of photography, annotated and commented, which allows us to know how were the first years and the context of the emergence of this invention. Three volumes (Utopía, Materialidad and Praxis) with 100 original texts translated by Ana Galán that give voice to those who imagined and thought about photography between 1816 and 1844. With a variety and wealth of sources that includes articles and communications to scientific societies, but also pages of personal diaries or family letters, and which places photography alongside art and science.
➢ Research, promoted by Stéphany Onfray and Sonia Taravilla, to achieve the protection of the allegory in photography and the photographic study of the Cava Baja de Madrid: Research promoted by Stéphany Onfray and Sonia Taravilla, which has made it possible to start a process to protect the allegory in photography and the photographic study of the Cava Baja; a building in Madrid, a photo gallery, a decorative ceiling and a large number of photographers. They have managed to draw public attention to this unknown photographic heritage and request its protection from the competent authorities.
The candidacies were also proposed:
Exhibition “Sarah Moon. Time stops” from Foto Colectania
Isabel Azkarate book, edited by Blume and the Photographic Social Vision Foundation
Report “Photography festivals in Catalonia: state of the issue and proposals for improvement”
Documentary “Sensitive Material”, made by Ana de Quadras
Exhibition and book “Objectiu Sabadell. History of photography 1860-1936″
Pablo Giori for being co-founder and organizer of the Experimental Photo Festival, the Barcelona International Festival of Experimental Photography, a photographic event that has become established in our city. This year 2024, in its fifth edition, the festival has been held at the Pati Llimona Civic Center and the Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia, providing a platform for technical exploration, international collaboration and celebration of experimental photography on a global scale. The event is supported by Barcelona City Council, the Ministry of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the European Community through its Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs project.
Book “History of a photo” written by Salvador Rodés and edited by MAITANT, free editions.
And the winning entry was “Buscando lo imposible. Anthology of texts on the origin of photography”, by Rebecca Muttell and Martí Llorens
✓ FOTOCONNECTAT/DA AWARD: Awarded to any Fotoconnexió member or project of the association that has made a contribution to the prestige, dissemination or operation of the institution itself within the last two years.
The candidates selected were:
➢ Núria F. Rius: For her generosity towards Fotoconnexió and all its members, sharing her knowledge and her research through talks or visits to exhibitions, such as the one she gave us this year at the exhibition “The domestic camera . The photographic hobby in Catalonia (ca. 1880-1936)”.
➢ Salvador Tió Sauleda: For his work in the interesting and extensive article “Enric Bargués, inventor of the minute camera with copying device” published in number 2 of the magazine Papers Fotogràfics de Fotoconnexió
➢ David González Ruiz: Because whenever he talks about his activity as a historian of photography, he does so by highlighting and praising the influence and help of Fotoconnexió and its partners. Both in the presentation of the exhibition “Objectiu Sabadell. History of photography 1860-1936”, as in all the guided tours he has done, he has always mentioned the association and the people who make it up.
The candidacies were also proposed:
Gregorio Escalada Sardine
Salvador Rodés and Xavier Ripoll
Albert Bada Ortoll
And the winning candidate was David González Ruiz
After the award ceremony, Marc Vidal presented the 39/11 project to celebrate during the month of November the anniversary of the first photograph taken in Barcelona.
