he Josep Marimon i Vidal Photographic Collection of the National Archive of Catalonia

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1 SHORT T ARTICLES PHOTOGRAPHY he Josep Marimon i Vidal Photographic Collection of e National Archive of Catalonia Francesc Sánchez Mata Spain Album wi e contacts of 2,600 stereoscopic glass plates from e Josep Marimon i Vidal collection. In all e images, e auor recorded e place and date e photograph was taken, which will make e work involved in describing e collection much easier. Photograph: F. Sánchez In 2007, e collection of e amateur photographer Josep Marimon was included in e ANC's collection to begin e donation process to e Government of Catalonia. The collection consists of 2,800 6x13 stereoscopic plate negatives, 134 6x13 stereoscopic autochromes, 250 paper positives (predominantly silver bromide and bromoil and bromoil transfer pigmentation processes), an album wi 2,721 contacts of e stereoscopic plate negatives and 437 black and white glass slides (predominantly 6x13 stereoscopic, but also 13x18, 10x15 and 9x12). The collection also comprises a collection of 90 calling cards, 46 stereoscopic positives and 70 postcards from e late nineteen and early twentie centuries, all collected by e auor, most of which are portraits of family members. 168 Josep Marimon, an amateur photographer in his time Josep Marimon i Vidal was born in Esparreguera (a town about 40 kilometres nor of Barcelona) in 1879 and died in Barcelona in His family background is unknown. In all probability he came from a well-to-to family, he only had one sister, Matilde. Alough he was married, he had no children and died at e age of 63, wiout issue, his legacy being a magnificent photographic collection which he bequeaed to his sister's grandchildren, Joseph and Joan Rodón i Marimon.

2 In e last few decades of e nineteen century and at e beginning of e twentie, e photography world was divided into "photographers" and "portrait-makers". The first group was comprised of rich amateur photographers, wi considerable purchasing power, as well as a knowledge of chemistry and optics From his hometown, he moved to Barcelona, where he lived until he died. Despite is change of residence, he never lost contact wi e region where he was born, and he used to spend his summers in a farmhouse in e village of Jorba. The result of all is is a large number of photographs of is town from e 1920s and 1930s. In Barcelona he worked professionally as a sales representative for a department store in e city. As e Catalan photographer Francesc Roca 1 explains in his memoirs, in e last few decades of e nineteen century and at e beginning of e twentie, e photography world was divided into "photographers" and "portrait-makers". The first group was comprised of rich amateur photographers, wi considerable purchasing power, as well as a knowledge of chemistry and optics; e oer group, e "portrait-makers", were what we would actually call photographers nowadays, and who strived to earn a living rough photography. Thanks to em, many people could have photographs (of emselves or of a family member) taken, and more economically an rough a painter. Our man was in e first group. We do not know for certain when Josep Marimon started out as an amateur in e photography world. However, from his photographic collection, and anks to a postcard written by Marimon himself, we know at e influence of his broer Pere Rodón, also an amateur photographer, was important. It is a postcard of e Jorba-Igualada road taken by Marimon in On e back of e postcard, Marimon wrote e following lines to his broer-in-law: "(...) I hope you send me what I am asking you for soon, because I really want to work in photography, as e more I do e more I like it. Let me know wheer e bromide and sun ones have to be developed and fixed in e same way (...) In fact, after a preliminary study, and once e collection had been processed, 173 negative gelatine and silver plates on glass made by Pere Rodón have been identified. They are photographs dating from 1900 to 1920, portraits of groups of people, gaerings and outings, most of em taken in different parts of e region of Anoia, all of em unidentified. However, it was in Barcelona, as a result of his contact wi e Photography Section of e Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (SF-CEC) (Hiking Centre of Catalonia) and of e Agrupació Fotografica de Catalunya (AFC) (Photographic Association of Catalonia), where he improved and furered his interest and skills in e photography world. He was a member of bo of em and harnessed his photographic activity rough em. His relationship wi ese organisations from Barcelona was crucial in his photographic creation. The Agrupació Fotografica de Catalunya and e Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, photographic association reference points The decade of e 1920s was marked, in photography, by e mass creation of new photographic associations and specialist publications, in which Josep Marimon participated actively, as has already been noted. Similarly, 2 and as e historian S. Carl King stated, e convergence of different cultural, economic and social factors in Barcelona between 1915 and 1920 generated an environment at heightened interest in photography: e rapid expansion of e middle class, an active pub- 169

3 SHORT ARTICLES PHOTOGRAPHY General view of what are currently e Maria Cristina and Rius i Taulet avenues in Montjuic. First of all, particular mention should be made of e probable building work on e Palace of Alfonso XIII and, in e background, four columns also designed by e architect and president of e Commonweal of Catalonia, Josep Puig. The picture corresponds to a 6x13 stereoscopic glass plate and was taken in CAT/ ANC cr lishing industry, particularly in photography, and e founding of e AFC, which acted as a model for e creation of oer photographic associations roughout Spain. The AFC was created in Barcelona in 1923, its founding members including Joaquim Pla Janini and Claudi Carbonell, whose influence is evident in e work of Marimon, as will be explained later. The Association provided its members wi information on international exhibitions and encouraged em to participate in such activities. Josep Marimon joined e AFC on 8 May 1928 rough John Xicart and Salvador Lluch, bo of em founders of e AFC, togeer wi Janini and Carbonell, also members of e SF- CEC: his membership card lists him as member number 82. In 1931 he became part of e board as a voting member of e culture sec- 170 tion. His work was published in several issues of e AFC newsletter in e late 1920s and early 1930s. It should be pointed out at at e beginning of e 1930s e AFC newsletter was one of e best photography magazines published in Spain, alough it was only distributed to members of e association. The first news we have of Josep Marimon's involvement wi e SF-CEC are from 1923; he was a voting member on e board in This period also heralded e beginning of e creation of e Photographic Archive of e Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, which contains photographs taken by him. Josep Marimon was an active member of bo organisations. He participated in many of e activities and photography courses ey organised. Mention must be made of e awards obtained in e pigmentation categories at e

4 1st Fill d'a. Busquets i Duran Photography Competition organised by e AFC in 1927; in e 6 Annual Competition of e AFC in e bromides and autochromes category in 1930; e 8 Annual Competition of e AFC in 1932; e 9 Annual Competition of e AFC in 1933 and e grand prize at e Catalonia Today Historical Exhibition, organised under e auspices of e City Council of Barcelona in The January 1932 edition of e Foto photography magazine dedicated an article to his prize-winning works in e AFC's 8 Annual Competition: (...) In Plain Photography, where e technical errors at sometimes crept into previous events have been eradicated, we particularly liked: (...) Gypsy camp, Town slums and e Vine, ree bromoils by Jose Marimon which show him to be an excellent bromoilist, and which are also endowed wi remarkably good taste in terms of composition (...)." He was also awarded e gold medal in e Catalonia Award in e 6 Photo Competition of e Centre Excursionista de Catalunya in Referring to is award, e February 6, issue of La Veu de Catalunya dedicated is article to him, which we transcribe verbatim: (...) Mr. Marimon, wi his characteristic modesty, has suddenly attained e aura of an excellent capturer of photographic aspects wi admirable knowledge of Daguerre's art. His photographs are e perfect marriage of technique and conception; e auor has made e most of e photographic document and lights, which are difficult to bring togeer (...). (...) in is competition Mr. Marimon has also exhibited his knowledge of artistic photography in e most expressive sense of e word. Two collections were submitted to qualify for e Special award wiin e Catalonia Prize, of which Mr. Marimon was also e lucky winner. His collection of art photographs, modulated wi e skill at pigmentation procedures permit, denote an extensive knowledge and a clear vision of e road e auor has to follow to achieve truly artistic work wiin e difficult art of photography (...). He also presented his work at many national and international photography exhibitions. st A few are highlighted below: 1 International Show of 1929 organised by e AFC, where he was awarded first prize in e bromides category, International Exhibition of Uruguay, 1930; International Show of Buenos Aires, 1930; 8 International Photography Show of rd Madrid, 1930; 3 International Exhibition of Holland, 1930; 4 International Photography Show of Japan; 25 International Photogra phic Art Show of Paris, 1930; 6 International Photography Show of e Photographic Society of Zaragoza, 1930; Tarragona Interna tional Show, 1931; and e 13 International Show of Photographic Art, Brussels His photographs also illustrate e reference manual of e times, by Manuel Vallvé Tratado moderno de fotografía, published in His work: straddling art and document The defining characteristics of e topics of Josep Marimon's work are e predominance of e landscape, and, to a lesser degree, customs and manners and documentary-type images. From e point of view of what geography has called cultural hiking, e subjects at appear are ose typical of e time: e discovery of e country and e recovery of its heritage. There is an abundance of pictures of la Molina, Montseny, or Catalonia's most famous monuments: Poblet, Santes Creus, Sant Cugat del Valles, Sant Joan de les Abadesses, etc. Particularly outstanding is e 171

5 SHORT ARTICLES PHOTOGRAPHY Two bromide photos, a procedure used by Josep Marimon which won him several competitions. In e top photograph e auor applied a soft focus to blur e picture and us obtain a more pictorial setting, unlike e bottom one, which is more documentary in nature. The first photograph won e Grand Prize, in e bromides category, in e Catalonia Today Historical Exhibition, organised under e auspices of e City Council of Barcelona in 1935; e oer photo won e first prize, also in e bromides category, at e Six Annual Competition of e Agrupació Fotogràfica de Catalunya in The scene shows fishermen working on e beach of Caldes d'estrac (Caldetes) in CAT/ ANC cr , and CAT/ ANC cr report on e occasion of e restoration of e monastery of Sant Joan de les Abadesses in 1924 and e Universal Exposition of Barcelona in In addition, and just like any oer photographer, Josep Marimon never passed up e opportunity to capture his immediate environment, such as e Mountain of Montjuic and e first football match in e stadium on e same mountain in 1921, as well as people working in e country in Jorba or pictures of family and friends. Of his early positive images on paper, e bromides deserve special mention, belonging, from e aesetic point of view, to pictorialism and characterized by e use of soft focus 172 applied to e lens of e amplifier and paper negatives. In addition, e widespread use of pigment techniques, such as bromoil and bromoil transfer, procedures he eventually mastered, is also notewory. In is regard, his work is similar to at of two of his contemporaries, and probably acquaintances, from e AFC, Joquim Pla Janini and Claudi Carbonell. The pigmentation processes enabled e auor to work on e final image to remove troublesome details, emphasise highlights or introduce brush strokes - procedures at are apparently contradictory to documentary practice. Marimon, however, also used em to afford e photograph an added value raer

6 an as a way of denying is reality, which is after all e raw material of e image. Josep Vidal Marimon's images convey e interests of e photographer and his time, and give us a portrait of e enlightened petit bourgeois who, until e outbreak of e Civil War, travelled e country to rediscover Catalan heritage. This portrait has e added value of its Notes: auor's artistic quality, as is endorsed by e awards and prizes he picked up in e course of his life. The discovery of e Josep Marimon i Vidal photographic collection, hierto completely unknown, is a major find for e history of Catalan photography and cultural hiking. 1 Catala i Roca Francesc (1995). Impressions d un fotograf. Memories. Barcelona: Edicions p. 2. King, Sir Carl (winter-spring 2000). El impresionismo fotográfico en Espana. Archivos de la fotografía Vol. 4, no 1, pp Photo. Publicación mensual ilustrada de arte técnica e información fotográficas (Barcelona: ). It was created by José Pérez Noguera, an amateur photographer. Like its director, e magazine has a marked pictorialist tendency, like many of his colleagues, including José Arola Sala, J. Ortiz Echagüe and e art critic José Fernández. 4. La Veu de Catalunya was e longest-lasting daily newspaper in Catalan. It was published in Barcelona from 30 July 1880 until 8 January