Jean Laurent (1816-1886) and Fernando Manso (Madrid 1961) are the photographers who have portrayed, under a intimate view with a camera, but with a difference of 150 years, the gardens, palaces and the surroundings of the Alhambra. The show gathers 57 photographs which pay tribute to the monumental beauty of the Alhambra and its natural surroundings, in order to praise it as a cultural and artistic icon in Spain.
The 22 small size works (20x35cm) by Jean Laurent, chosen among more than 400 images which compose the original catalogue, present a careful selection of photographs, which have been gathered in the same place where the spectator is transported to the period when the French photographer lived. The 35 large size works (200x150cm and 120x150cm) by Fernando Manso, are exhibited in a wider space, creating a tour of unpublished visions, different and new of the nowadays Alhambra.
About the photographers.-
Jean Laurent (Garchizy, Nevers, 1816 - Madrid, 1886) moved to Madrid in 1843 and became one of the more importants 19th century comertial photographers. He travelled around all Spain and Portugal taking photographs about the most popular matters of his time: masterpiece copies, photo essay about public works (industrial photography), panoramic views of cities, landscapes, monuments, art works, portraits of celebrities and popular people of the peninsula. For his journeys he used the railway and he has a small carriage or "laboratory-car", where he used to prepare and reveal his photographs. He was "Photographer of the Queen" during the time between the years 1861 and 1868.
Fernando Manso (Madrid, 1961) began in analogic photography while studying in US. He starts his professional career working in the professional department of photography of Canon España, and after that he worked on advertising photography, even being awarded for several works. Since 20 years he works on artistic photography, the work for which he has obtained important awards as the Premio Nacional de las Artes 2008, by the Real Academia de la Gastronomía. He always uses an analogical camera, his photographs show this personal image that the artist keeps in his head and give a poetic vision of everything. Manso is a respectful observer of reality and he also strengthens his own minimalistic truth, meticulous, romantic, but over all photographer of beauty.
