Josep Cortinas i Badalona
Author: Montserrat Carreras García
Museu de Badalona, 1991.
A small selection of the work of the Badalona photographer Josep Cortinas i Suñol, published by the Museum in 1991. The book shows only a small part of the Cortinas collection, preserved in the Museum’s Image Archive, which includes, by this author, 11,000 positives on paper. of various sizes, 8,800 slides and 2,300 sheets with 35 mm negatives.
Josep Cortinas i Suñol (Badalona 1908-1995) was a mechanic by trade. In the mid-1920s, he began photography, a practice he would never give up, although he did not pursue it professionally. He took part in numerous competitions and exhibitions, and was one of the founders of the Museum’s Photographic Section (1969), which in 1979 paid tribute to him. Great connoisseur of photographic techniques, he worked as a teacher for many young photographers. His work, focused mainly on the city of Badalona, includes different genres, such as portraiture, landscape, fishing, industry, scenes of everyday life, parties and events, etc., and has great artistic and documentary value.
From 1981, Cortinas donated his photos to the Museum of Badalona, where they are preserved and can be consulted, and thus began the creation of the Museum’s Image Archive, which today has almost a million photographs.
In 1991, the City Council presented him with a reproduction of the Venus de Badalona in recognition of his cultural work and generosity, and the Museum published this book with a small collection of photographs of him. In 1998, the City Council gave its name to a square, where you can see a reproduction of some of his photographs.
