Emancipacions. Col·lecció Foto Colectania

A new reading of the Col·lecció Foto Colectania, curated by Florian Ebner, head of the Photography Department at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

This exhibition explores how photography accompanied the transformation of Spanish society and the evolution of the photographic medium itself, placing Spanish photography in dialogue with the grand narratives of European modernity.

This exhibition tells the story of two emancipations: that of Spanish society, which left behind a paternalistic model and embarked on a path towards modernity after the Second World War and the end of Francoism; and that of the photographic medium itself, which shifted from an informative function and a presence in reduced formats to the creation of ambitious, large-scale and more contemplative images.

The narrative is structured into chapters that function from a chrono-thematic perspective, making it possible to establish connections between different generations of artists and offer new interpretations of the collection.

The presentation of the works constitutes a central element of the conceptual framework of the exhibition.

Through the dialogue between the vertical arrangement of the photographs on the wall and the horizontal arrangement of photographs and ephemeral materials on the tables, the exhibition raises questions about what we understand by an exhibition print and about other forms that a photograph can take: press prints, albums, working prints, fanzines and other related materials.

In this sense, the exhibition also becomes a reflection on the different states of photography and on how its meaning transforms according to the format and context in which it is presented.

Exhibition curator Florian Ebner is head of the Photography Department at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. For 25 years he has developed his career in the field of photography and contemporary art.

Since the end of 2012 he directed the photography collection of the Museum Folkwang in Essen and, previously,