Photo exhibitions in Barcelona

KBr Barcelona Photo Center

Fine art photography exhibitions in Barcelona

The KBr Barcelona Foto Center is Fundación MAPFRE’s photography venue in Barcelona, a dynamic space dedicated to contemporary visual art of the highest caliber. Located in the iconic Olympic Port area of Barcelona, the epicenter of leisure and entertainment, it offers an enticing photography program that includes exhibitions by the great names of contemporary photography as well as historical photos and the emerging talent of young artists.

Its program, which regularly includes collaborations with leading institutions on the international photographic scene, promotes dialogue and interaction through educational activities, conferences and workshops that enrich the experience of its audiences, seeking ultimately to facilitate understanding and enjoyment of photography as part of our artistic heritage and as a documentary record of our time.

In its barely four years of existence, the KBr Fundación MAPFRE has established itself as one of the main players in Barcelona’s cultural scene and an international benchmark in the field of photography.

Nude [Desnudo],1936<br />
Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. Gift of the Estate of A. Richard Diebold, Jr.<br />
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents
Edward Weston
Nude, 1936
Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. Gift of the Estate of A. Richard Diebold, Jr.
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Edward Weston

From 12 June to 31 August 2025

Deeply connected to the American landscape and cultural history, the work of Edward Weston (Illinois, 1886 – California, 1958) offers a unique perspective on the establishment of photography as an artistic medium and its significant role within the context of modernism in visual arts. This extensive anthology traverses all stages of his photographic production, from his initial interest in pictorialism to his establishment as a central figure in affirming the poetic and speculative value of straight photography. As a co-founder of Group f/64, his images are essential to understanding the new aesthetics and lifestyle that emerged in interwar America. 

Curated by Sergio Mah, the exhibition comprises nearly 200 photographs and numerous documentary materials, offering a European perspective on the legacy of American modernist photography through the figure of Weston. It serves as an aesthetic and conceptual counterpoint to the photographic modernism in Europe that emerged with the early 20th-century avant-garde movements. 

Exhibition organized with the support of the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Retrato de una niña polaca, La Vanguardia, 9 de junio de 1935<br />
Archivo Fotográfico La Vanguardia
J. Andreu Puig Farran
Retrato de una niña polaca, La Vanguardia, 9 June 1935
La Vanguardia Photographic Archive
© Arxiu família Puig Farran

Joan Andreu Puig Farran

A Decade of Turmoil (1929-1939)

From 12 June to 31 August 2025

Beginning his career as a press photographer in 1929, Joan Andreu Puig Farran (Lleida, 1904 – Barcelona, 1982) worked during the Spanish Republic for daily newspapers such as La Humanitat, Esplai, El Matí, L’Opinió and La Vanguardia. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he covered the Aragón and Mallorca fronts. In 1939, he went into exile in France, returning to Barcelona in 1945. Unable to resume his work as a photojournalist, he focused on industrial and tourist photography, partnering with his friend Antoni Campañà to create the postcard brand CYP. 

Puig Farran never had the opportunity to showcase his photographs in an exhibition during his lifetime. This exhibition recovers his work from a period of intense social and political upheaval, featuring numerous original vintage prints from the La Vanguardia archive. These are complemented by exhibition prints made from glass plates preserved by his heirs and a selection of the newspapers in which his images were published. 

Curators: Arnau Gonzàlez Vilalta and Antoni Monné Campañà