Joan Fontcuberta

JOAN FONTCUBERTA (Barcelona, 1955).
“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” 1989.
From the “Animal Trouvé” series.
Print made in 2016 from the original negative.
Silver bromide gelatin on Kentmere de Luxe baryta paper, selenium-treated and tea-toned.
Signed and dated on the reverse.
Edition of 49 prints.
Developed at the Rebel-Lab.
Certificate from the publisher included.
Measurements: 36.5 × 28 cm (image); 40 × 30 cm (paper).

“Tyrannosaurus Rex” is part of “Animal Trouvé,” a series in which Joan Fontcuberta questions the mechanisms through which science, photography, and institutions classify and legitimize the natural world. The artist himself conceived this series as a critical reflection on the decontextualization of animals in modern civilization since the consolidation of positivism and the scientific mindset.

The image depicts a monumental-looking anatomical fragment, isolated as if it were a specimen under observation. The side lighting accentuates its texture and casts a long shadow on the wall, while the title introduces a deliberate dissonance between what is observed and the identification attributed to it. Fontcuberta thus mimics the visual authority of scientific photography to reveal the extent to which every image depends on a narrative that conditions its interpretation.

The selenium and tea toning reinforces the aged appearance of the positive and makes the photograph resemble a document from a historical archive. This appearance of authenticity is central to the artist’s practice, which aims to dismantle the supposed objectivity of photography and to encourage a critical examination of the systems of knowledge production and transmission.

Joan Fontcuberta is one of the most internationally renowned Spanish figures in contemporary photography. An artist, essayist, educator, and curator, he received the National Essay Prize in 2011 for *La cámara de Pandora* and the Hasselblad International Photography Award in 2013. His work is included in the collections of MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Pompidou, the Reina Sofía Museum, and MACBA.