The domestic camera

For decades, amateur photography remained on the margins of the official history of photography, mainly due to its character as a mass activity and the shortcomings of many of its productions. For some time now, however, it has been the subject of attention for the way in which it manifests different social and cultural aspects of its time.

Amateur photographic culture took strong root in Catalonia from 1880 onwards and would not cease to arouse extraordinary social fervour until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. This exhibition traces its evolution through a thematic route that presents nearly 300 pieces (photographs, objects and period documents) that have been brought together thanks to the collaboration of seventeen public institutions (including archives, museums, libraries and research centres) and nine private collections.

Amateur photography is that which arises outside the production logic of the professional market and encompasses a wide variety of users, among whom we must distinguish the common “enthusiast” from the “amateur”, according to the terminological distinction of the time. The ordinary enthusiast, or simple hobbyist, usually uses the camera on an occasional and often seasonal basis, e.g. on holidays, while the amateur, also called the “serious” amateur, acts, in a way, as a non-professional professional. They devote time and effort to photography, project in their hobby a certain yearning for progress and improvement and, from time to time, participate in activities that may lead to some recognition, such as competitions and exhibitions.

Domestic photography evolved along with visual culture. While in its early days it was influenced by painting, especially landscape painting, the mass media, such as cinema and the press, soon exerted an increasingly strong influence on amateur photographers, whose gaze evolved under the unstoppable and powerful influence of these new visual languages.