Agustí Centelles

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Precursor of modern photojournalism, Agustí Centelles was only recognised by his work with the Spanish Civil War, with the arrival of democracy

Agustí Centelles i Ossó, also known as the "Robert Capa catalán", was born in Grao (Valencia) in 1909. Still, he is considered more Barcelonan than Valencian, since at the age of one he moved to the Catalan capital with his family.

He was a pioneer of modern reporting. Taking in to account that the Civil War was the first big military Spanish conflict that woke the attention to the international communication mediums, where it is considered that photo journalism commenced, Centelles was a character that definitely marked this genre.

In 1925 he started working as an apprentice in the photographic section of El Día Gráfico, where he published his first photos. He also worked by his own accord for various newspaper reporting shows and sports. Two years later, he purchased, for 900 pesetas, his first Leica and worked regularly for La Vanguardia, Diario de Barcelona, Última Hora, La Opinión and La Rambla.

In 1963 he photographed the frustrated military uprising of Barcelona and the exit of the columns facing the front of Aragon, where he left as a reporter for La Revista. In 1937 he was converted in the one in charge of the photographic service of the Propaganda Commissioner.

At the end of the Civil War he exiled to France, putting salvation, in a suitcase, about five thousand negatives. Through passing through the French concentration camps, he worked in laboratory in Carcasonne. As such, he was discovered by the Gestapo, in 1944, and decided to return to Spain leaving his suitcase in the hands of rural family.

When he returned to Spain, he was put to trial and condemned in 1946. He obtained conditional freedom but remained disqualified to practice his reporter profession. From then on, he dedicated himself to industrial photography.

Years later, and with democracy then reestablished, he recuperated the now famous suitcase and exposed his work, that very soon he obtained the recognition of the public´s opinion. In 1984 he was awarded the National Prize of Plastic Arts.

He passed away in Barcelona in 1985, when he was 76 years old.