HISTORY + PHOTOGRAPHY (OR REVERSE)

The invention of photography in the nineteenth century was an undoubted revolution in the way humanity started to “gaze”.

The exciting evolution that the photographic discipline has undergone (both technically and conceptually) has provoked controversy over established ideas of “reality,” “art,” or “plausibility.” With its birth in an era of great technological advances, the most obvious elements of the common space such as landscapes, buildings or monuments, began to be portrayed in order to build the collective memory, spread political propaganda or disseminate cultural and scientific issues of the moment.

The progressive democratisation of the technique allowed the emergence of a great amount of photographic studios, which began portraying the richest strata of society to gradually capture increasingly abstract and personal motifs. Thus, a new language was born that was abandoning its exclusive documentary commitment to become a means of artistic expression in itself, being finally cataloged in the 20th century, as a new branch of Fine Arts.

It is obvious that photography has forever changed the relationship of people with their individual present and with the collective memory of the society to which they belong.

Manuel Chicharro, 1884. BNE

FOCUS COMPOSTELA IT IS A COLLECTIVE ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL PROPOSAL
FOR RESIDENTS AND VISITORS IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, WHICH COMBINES
THE DISCLOSURE OF ITS HISTORY WITH THE AUDIOVISUAL CREATION.

It arises due to the growing interest in knowing the identity of the traversed places, the taste for the image and the belonging of audiovisual equipment in the general society. The initiative began in 2016 with guided tours for visitors to the city of Compostela combined with the creation of still or moving images. Since 2019, the work has been extended to visitors from Galicia by including the Galician language in the project, with special interest in the participation of the local population.

To join these itineraries it is not essential to have advanced knowledge of photography. The creative proposals will be aimed at improving the skills already acquired regardless the level, deepening the photographic and videographic creation techniques according to the interests of the participants: people with artistic sensitivity who want to take images of Compostela with a deep consciousness, knowing the context of the spaces that they portray and that others captured previously.

It is neither necessary to have the latest model of audiovisual equipment, because what is important is your gaze. Any image registration gadget is perfectly valid: DSLR, mirrorless, smartphone or tablet, analog or pinhole systems… With the means at your disposal it is enough, although in certain cases we recommend the use of optional specific materials for a better result.

Wearing comfortable shoes and a coat is always a good idea!

Do you know that we also organize workshops with photography professionals? Take a look at our latest face-to-face activities (2019):