Ramon Masats

RAMÓN MASATS (Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona, 1931–Madrid, 2024).
“Las Ramblas in Barcelona,” 1956.
A later print made in 2011 from the original negative.
Silver gelatin on baryta paper, selenium-toned.
Signed by the artist.
Part of an edition consisting of 58 photographs, printed under the supervision of Ramón Masats at the Catropietro Photography Workshop.
Certificate from the publisher included.
Measurements: 28.5 × 21.5 cm (image); 30 × 23 cm (paper).

This photograph belongs to the formative period of Ramón Masats’s career and is directly linked to the photo essay on Las Ramblas that he began in 1953, a decisive experience in his shift toward documentary photography. During those years, Masats played an active role in renewing the language of Spanish photography, moving it away from academicism and toward an immediate, free, and modern observation of everyday life.

Five passersby wait by the curb, isolated and facing different directions, while the urban backdrop situates the scene in postwar Barcelona. The vertical framing and the contrast of black and white integrate the figures into the architectural geometry, transforming an everyday moment into a balanced composition that captures gesture, rhythm, and social context.

Ramón Masats was a key figure in the renewal of Spanish documentary photography and was associated with the AFAL group and the so-called new photographic avant-garde of the 1950s. The creator of seminal works such as *Los Sanfermines* and *Neutral Corner*, he received the National Photography Prize in 2004. His work is held, among other institutions, at the Reina Sofía National Art Museum and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.