Barcelona through the lens of Francesc Català-Roca

a masterclass on contrast in photography and why light is important

Sep 01, 2024

Hola amigues,

It’s the start of a brand new Sunday, the start of a new month, the start of a new school year and the start of a new letter from The Attic.

It’s been long since I wanted to share this master photographer and his collection of pictures of 50s Barcelona, I also bring you le noveau Lambretta, some blocks to build a town, a gig poster and a children’s book.

Keep your eyes peeled!

✧A photographer: Francesc Català-Roca✧

Francesc Català-Roca (1922 - 1998) was born in Valls, Tarragona.

His father was a banker, but 8 years before Francesc’s birth he won a camera in a raffle at work and left his job to open a photography studio, so Francesc grew up watching his father work in the studio.

In 1931, at the age of 9, he moved with his family from Tarragona to el Barri Gòtic in Barcelona. A few years later, in 1937, he began working for the Comissariat de Propaganda de la Generalitat, in favour of the Republic. He spent the entire Civil War (1936-1939) in Barcelona.

It wasn’t until 1948 that he opened his own studio in Gràcia and just one year later, he began to photograph the city he had lived since his adolescence: Barcelona.

He would walk around observing and localizing without a camera. When he would find a spot he’d then wait until the light was right and then return, this time carrying his big camera to take the photo. He could wait hours until the light was perfect! And it shows: the lighting in his pictures was the first thing that caught my eye.

I hope you delight yourself with these images of 50s Barcelona. The contrast, the lighting, the composition, the subject… Just PERFECT.

In addition to photographing the city, he also took pictures of other subjects and portraits of artists such as Joan Miró or Salvador Dalí, among others.

Though for me, it’s a marvel to be able to look at these pictures of the city and streets I walk through trying to guess where they were taken.

Barcelona has changed a lot since then, now gentrification has taken its toll and sometimes it’s hard to recognize it from how it was even 10 years ago (I’m mostly talking in terms of the increase in mass tourism/housing problems). Also, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the streets in the pictures so empty because they are usually packed - with the only exception of lockdown in 2020, which felt like a breather -

So to be honest, when I look at these photos and I’m still able to tell the location it’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling.

Still, such beautiful pictures.

I couldn’t help myself but to share as many pictures as I could and in full width, I hope this email is not too long, I just thought they were super worth sharing.

✧ An ad: Lambretta ✧

✧ A toy: Build the Town ✧

Ladislav SUTNAR - 1940-1943 - Build The Town building blocks prototype

Ladislav SUTNAR - 1942-1943 - Build the Town building block set sketches

Ladislav SUTNAR - ca. 1943 - Build the Town building block set promotion kits

✧ A gig poster: The Rolling Stones ✧

1964 - The Rolling Stones Second-Tour U.S. Concert Poster, Dayton, OH

✧ A book: Little Oleg ✧

John & Margaret CORT - 1971 - Little Oleg

Hey, I need some help!

I’m trying to put together a collaborative database of shops and bookstores that sell zines and prints from artists, so that me and any other artist who wants can browse and see if they can sell their artworks in these shops.

If you know of any, could you please help me by submitting it to this google form?

I don’t collect any personal data, just the answers.

I think it’s also a cool list to have for when you need to make a gift to a loved one :) I’d love to have stores from all over the World!!

More things I’ve enjoyed lately

✸ Just right before the pandemic I was contacted by Joan Guardiet asking if I was interested in a position in an animated tv series.

At that point, I had never worked in animation, but despite being terribly under the control of Mr. Imposter Syndrome, I said yes.

And I’m honestly so glad I did, because not only I got the chance to see how a cartoon show is made and be a part of the character and prop department, I also got the chance to help with the bumpers illustrated by Fran Collado, and I met incredible people there that made the experience 10x better!

The animated series is Jimmy & the Magic Key, and aims to bring the marvels of classical music to young audiences. You can watch some episodes of the show at Filmin (in Spanish).