Oriol Maspons is the main inspirer and provocateur of Spanish photography

Oriol Maspons is called the main theorist and inspirer of Spanish photography. It was he who raised photography in his country to a new level. Maspons does not fit into any framework - he worked in different genres, creating portraits, landscapes, fashion images, still lifes and bright photo reports. In addition, he is known as a chronicler of the nightlife of Ibiza, where he photographed from the 50s to the mid-90s.

Oriol Maspons was born in 1923 in Barcelona. His family was far from artistic, so young Oriol was also interested in more practical things. He decided to become an insurance agent and in the early 50s he traveled around Catalonia in search of clients. Constant travels opened up many interesting places and situations for him. At some point, Maspons began to take a camera with him, and photography became his hobby.

In the 1950s, Spain was under the dictatorship of Franco. Art and advertising were strictly censored, and only academic photography was approved. But everything Oriol Maspons created went against these rules. Even his early works were conceptually fresh and had deep social implications.

Maspons soon realized that photography meant much more to him than just a hobby. In 1952, he joined a community of professional photographers. But he stayed there for only a couple of years. The official framework was unbearable for him - he believed that photographs should not serve only as objects of contemplation. He was interested in practical, applied photography that brings real benefits to the viewer. This is what the young Spaniard dreamed of doing.

In 1955, Maspons went to Paris to study and gain experience. He was mentored by such outstanding masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau. Returning home in 1957, the 29-year-old photographer opened a photo studio in Barcelona with his friend and colleague Julio Ubiña.

Over a career spanning more than half a century as a professional photographer, Oriol Maspons has taken thousands of remarkable photographs. They feature both celebrities and ordinary people. The photographer took a huge number of interesting shots in Ibiza. They show the stages of development of this epicenter of European club life. The photos of uninhibited, nearly naked dancing youth and the locals of Ibiza, who are religious and wear strict clothes, are in striking contrast.

During his life, Maspons collaborated with La Gaceta Ilustrada, Destino, Cuadernos de arquitectura, Triunfo, Interviú, L'Oeil, Paris Match, Bocaccio, Expression and Elle. Supermodels, politicians, athletes and artists posed for him. The master left us a series of photographs with his fellow countryman Salvador Dalí, capturing the artist in a relaxed creative atmosphere.

Shortly before his death in 2013, Oriol Maspons donated 7,000 photographs from his archive to the National Art Museum of Catalonia, which today houses the largest exhibition dedicated to this classic of Spanish photography.