Agrupaciò Fotogràfica de Catalunya BRIEF HISTORY
L'Agrupaciķ Fotogrāfica
de Catalunya, was born spontaneously when a group of photography
enthusiasts met by chance at a public event.
A conversation about cameras led to the idea of posting ads in newspapers
addressed to other photography amateurs setting a meeting which was
attended by roughly thirty people.
This Organization was set up in June 1923 but a place to meet was lacking.
The owner of a bar at 21 Aribau Street offered them a very
small room which was subsequently used as an auditorium, meeting
room, exhibition room, and screening room. The number of members
kept growing
and the premises were too small so a bigger place was needed. Luckily,
in November 1924, a society with survival problems rented 14 Duc
de la Victōria Street -where we are still located - and later on l'AFC expanded
acquiring the two first floors, which we still keep.
Names like Pla Janini, Claudi Carbonell,
Catalā Pic, Otto Lloyd, Agustí Centelles,
Antoni Campaņā, Salvador Lluch, and Joan Porqueras, were, among others,
members of this first period. In the sixties, l'AFC was one of the
most important societies with members such as Xavier Miserachs, Francesc
Catalā Roca, Pere Catalā Roca, Joan Fontcuberta, Oriol Maspons, Joan
Colom, Francesc P. de Ponti, Antoni Crous, Antoni Palau, Carles Roca,
Jordi Gumí, Josep Closa, Rosa Szücs de Truņķ, and Carme Garcia de Ferrando,
among others. Two of these members, Pere Catalā i Roca and Joan Colom
Altemir, have been awarded with the National Photography Prize, one
of the most prestigious Prizes for any photographer.
In 1978, the Agrupaciķ Fotogrāfica de
Catalunya Museum was created and today the archives include more
than 25,000 glass stereoscopic
negatives of Barcelona, Catalunya, Espanya, Europa, their people,
customs and social events.
Our photography archives have collected
the work of some of the great artists of their time. They include
the work of Claudi Carbonell,
Joan
Porqueras, Joaquim Pla Janini, Antoni Crous, Antoni Campaņā, Francesc
de P. Ponti, Antoni Palau, Francesc Catalā Roca, Salvador Lluch, Bru
Argemí, Joan Colom, Carles Roca, Rosa Szücs, Carme Garcia de Ferrando,
and Pere Martínez Carriķn.
An impressive collection of historical objects related to photography
are on permanent exhibition. A few of the notable objects include wooden
cameras, expandable cameras and contemporary cameras. Also on view
are cinema projectors, cinema cameras, and Taxi-Phots.
L'AFC objective is the promotion and popularization of all aspects
of photography. To achieve this objective, l'AFC organizes contests,
exhibitions, and courses. There are also b/w and colour laboratories,
a photographic set, audiovisual and cinema equipment and a digital
room at our disposal. Moreover, we enjoy one of Spain's best libraries
on photography housing a large volume of timeless books related to
the art of light. Many experts and photography specialists have used
our library for their work, even people from USA, Holland and Italy
have researched here.
In spite of the fact that our Organization lives only on members fees and doesn't receive any subsidy or extraordinary contribution, we have created digital facilities which gives our current and future members interested in the digital world a complement to our Organization's former facilities.
