The Mexican Suitcase

Today I managed to achieve one of my key goals for this visit to Barcelona - seeing a photography exhibition entitled La Maleta Mexicana (The Mexican Suitcase).

It was about rediscovered Spanish Civil War negatives of photos by the legendary photographers Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David 'Chim' Seymour.

Capa fled Paris for the United States in 1939 as fascism advanced, and his collaborator, Tchiki Weiss, saved three boxes containing 4,500 negatives of the trio's images.

The suitcase in which the negatives were stored was lost for decades until it turned up in Mexico. Now the images have been made available by the International Center of Photography in New York.

They make fascinating viewing for a number of reasons. Particularly interesting to me were two things: (a) seeing on the contact sheets the shots taken immediately before and after a famous photo and (b) seeing how the images were used in different publications, and the decisions taken on sizing and cropping (I'm a professional sub-editor, so I have an interest in these things).

As it was the first Sunday in the month, the Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya allowed everyone in for free. Unfortunately, that meant it was like trying to get into a Barcelona v Real Madrid 'classico'!

But it was still well worthwhile visiting.

We also checked out the nearby Olympic Stadium (why do stadiums seem smaller when you see them in the flesh?) and inevitably called in at La Sagrada Familia (still fascinating, although some of it smacks of tasteless Woolworths bargain bucket architecture, for me).

A good, if tiring, day. Oh, forgot to mention having breakfast at the Cafe de l'Opera on Las Ramblas - if you're ever here make sure you visit for an authentic Spanish atmosphere. It's one of my favourite cafes.