Negatius de vidre. Una col·lecció singular de l’arxiu fotogràfic de TMB

Espai Mercè Sala, the exhibition space at the Diagonal metro station, is hosting a re-run of the exhibition Negatius de vidre, featuring a unique collection from the TMB photographic archive.

This singular display of historical photographs from the early 20th century is produced by the Fundació de Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB).

The material was first exhibited in January 2020 at Espai Mercè Sala to great public acclaim, but the run was cut short by the outbreak of the pandemic.

Visitors can once again enjoy these high-quality black-and-white snapshots, thanks to the excellent preservation of glass plate negatives discovered in TMB offices a few years ago.

Numerous boxes containing over a hundred such negatives, produced between 1877 and 1940, were found, capturing various moments in Barcelona's history related to the city's public transport.

While the photographers have not been confirmed, all indications suggest they were professionals from well-known photographic studios in the city at the time.

Alongside 25 large-format snapshots, visitors can also watch a video detailing the technique used to recover the images from the glass plate negatives.

Furthermore, some photographs feature QR codes so that visitors can download them to use as wallpapers or to print on photographic paper.