Xavier Miserachs

XAVIER MISERACHS (Barcelona,1937-Badalona,1998).
"Auuuuuuuuughgh! Boom-boom! Ye-yeeee!!!" (Beatles concert in Barcelona), 1965.
Photograph.
With author's stamp on the back.
Measurements: 18 x 24 cm; 27'5 x 34 cm (frame).

Photographer of reference in the Spanish territory. In his photographs, Miserachs demonstrates to have an own glance like creator of a renewed image of the city and its people. He has been a teacher of other photographers of his generation such as Colita. In 1998 he received the Cross of St. George from the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 1952 he became a member of the Agrupación Fotográfica de Cataluña, where he met Oriol Maspons, with whom he established a very good friendship. In 1957 he presented his first exhibition at the headquarters of the Agrupación Fotográfica de Cataluña, together with Ricard Terré and Ramón Masats. In 1959 they exhibited together again at the Sala Aixelà in Barcelona. From that moment on, in fact, his professional activity began. In 1959 he made the poster for the Formentor Prize of the Seix Barral publishing house. In 1959, Xavier Busquets commissioned him to work on the site where the College of Architects of Catalonia was to be built, to guide Picasso in his drawings of the façade. In 1961, Miserachs wanted to become professionally independent, and set up his first studio in the David House on Tuset Street in Barcelona. He began alternating commissioned works with his own works, which he later compiled in books such as Barcelona Blanco y Negro, with 400 photographs recounting the economic recovery in the Catalan capital, and Costa Brava Show. During the 1960s he also worked as a reporter for magazines such as Actualidad Española. In 1968 he signed an exclusive contract with the magazine Triunfo. He was also published several reports in media such as La Vanguardia, Gaceta Ilustrada, Interviú, Bazaar or Magazin, among others. He was able to witness events such as May 1968 in France, the Beatles' London or the Prague Spring. He also traveled to a large number of countries such as France (Paris), United Kingdom (London), Cameroon, United States (New York), Morocco, Uganda, Somalia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal and Southeast Asia. Miserachs also worked in reportage and also devoted himself mainly to photography. In January 1967 he collaborated in the foundation of the Escola Eina, where he was one of the first photography teachers. Occasionally he collaborated with the musical selection of the discotheque Bocaccio, then meeting place par excellence of the gauche divine. In 1997 he published his memoir Hojas de contacto, which won him a Gaziel award. Posthumously, several events and exhibitions have been held in honor of Xavier Miserachs, and different awards and avenues have also been named after him. In 2001 the I Xavier Miserachs Photography Award was held, organized by the hotel company Hotusa, which consisted of a black and white photography contest about Barcelona, named after the author for his work Barcelona in black and white. Palafrugell named the promenade between the beaches of Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranch after the photographer, and thus became in 1998 the first - and so far, the only - town to have named one of its streets after the photographer. Also in Palafrugell is celebrated since 1999 the Biennial of photography Xavier Miserachs, dedicated to documentary photography, with the participation of 90 photographers, in the editions of 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2010 were organized specific exhibitions of the author. In Barcelona, the exhibition hall on the first floor of the Palacio de la Virreina was named after the photographer in his honor between December 17, 1998 and 2010. In 2010, the Xavier Miserachs Room was moved to the former Numismatics Room, and the first floor room was renamed Virreina Lab.