Humberto Rivas

HUMBERTO RIVAS (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1937–Barcelona, 2009).
“Barcelona,” 1982.
Print made in 2010 from the original negative.
Silver bromide gelatin on baryta paper, selenium-toned.
Signed by the Humberto Rivas Archive.
Part of an edition consisting of 57 photographs, with prints donated by the Humberto Rivas Archive and printed at Reproducciones Sbaté.
Certificate from the publisher included.
Measurements: 38 × 28.5 cm (image); 40 × 30 cm (paper).

This image belongs to the core body of urban landscapes with which Humberto Rivas revitalized Spanish photography. Its significance is underscored by the presence of another copy of “Barcelona,” printed in 1991, in the collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

The building, isolated and rendered almost abstract by the framing, stands out as a large dark silhouette against the sky. The absence of figures, the deserted street, and the starkness of the black-and-white imagery elevate the photograph beyond mere architectural documentation and focus attention on the traces of time, abandonment, and the city’s transformation. Rivas did not seek to capture a chance moment, but rather to construct rigorously meditated images capable of transforming ordinary spaces into silent presences.

Humberto Rivas settled in Barcelona in 1976 and exerted a decisive influence on the renewal of creative photography in Spain. He participated in the first Primavera Fotogràfica in Barcelona, held in 1982, and received the National Photography Prize in 1998. His work is represented in the Reina Sofía Museum, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, and the MAPFRE Foundation, all of which have dedicated major retrospective exhibitions to him.