Female Photoreporters During the Spanish Civil War

On a recent visit to the Reina Sophia museum in Madrid, I found fascinating black-and-white photos made by three young women from different countries. Their works were displayed close to the big room with Picasso’s Guernica. The guards were strict with the guests about not taking photographs with their phones. I read in my library guidebook that Franco time is a non-existing subject.
I wrote the names of the three female photographers in my notebook to remember them.


Kati Horna was born in Budapest in 1912 and died in Mexico in 2000. Her photos were hidden for many decades and can be seen here.

Jewish ‘Gerda Taro’ was born in Germany in 1910 and died in Madrid in 1937, covering the war. She was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery. Her photographs are collected here.
According to Wikipedia, Gerda helped invent modern war photography.

Margaret Michaelis (1902-1985) is an Austrian- Australian photographer of Polish-Jewish origin. She moved to Barcelona and documented the Civil War early on with her Leica camera.
The impression on me of those photographs was that women did them. They showed evacuated children in camps doing gymnastics and school work, and others showed mothers with babies in a stressed but natural situation. I didn’t see war scenes.


10 Comments »

  1. Wow. I would love to have a look. I went to Spain 50 years ago and it was two years before the Franco regime ended and I was shot at by Spanish border guards. I wrote my story about it five years ago.
    johnsstorybook.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/nearly-got-dead/

    Like

  2. I would love to go back to Spain even if it was just to see Guernica. I went there 50 years ago while the Franco regime was still in control. We were shot at by border guards when we went through a crossing without stopping. I wrote about it seven years ago.
    johnsstorybook.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/nearly-got-dead/

    Liked by 1 person

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