Allowed Spaces: Social Class, Gender Discourses and Photographic Genres in Barcelona, 1890-1936
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
8-3-2025 11:00 AM
Description
Dr. Núria F. Rius and Dr. Lourdes Delgado, Researchers of Spanish and Catalan photography history, Spain
Allowed Spaces: Social Class, Gender Discourses and Photographic Genres in Barcelona, 1890-1936
This proposal examines the intersections of social class, gender discourses, and photographic genres in Barcelona between 1890 and 1936, focusing on how these factors determined the ""allowed spaces"" for women in photographic practice. Additionally, it explores Barcelona as an exemplar of Southern European society that adopted Kodak culture and the “Kodak girl” image, but redefined it within the contexts of both Catholic and workers’ movements codes prevalent in the city during that period.
We will analyse three socioeconomic groups of women photographers:
- Women from the working class were predominantly involved in professional photography, particularly in family studios and as street photographers for commercial purposes. However, they generally did not participate in the amateur photography movement linked to the broader worker's movement.
- For middle-class women, photography was primarily a hobby. They focused on capturing family life and took part in popular photography competitions.
- Upper-class women were more closely associated with 'serious' amateur photography through cultural organisations, such as the bourgeois Hiking Club of Catalonia.
This study will examine how the discourses of the era regarding the “suitability” of photography for women varied according to social class, thereby influencing the photographic genres practised by each group and their subsequent social legitimisation. For instance, whilst working-class women were permitted to work in public spaces as commercial street photographers, upper-class women were encouraged to practise photography in more “refined” contexts such as landscape or fine art photography.
The analysis is based on primary sources such as specialized magazines, advertisements, and archival documents of photographic associations, as well as on the study of the preserved photographs. This study seeks to introduce non-Western-centric examples, and consider both social bias and the cultural ranking of photographic genres as crucial elements in examining women's engagement with photography.
Dr. Núria F. Rius (Barcelona, 1983) is a researcher in Spanish and Catalan photography history from the mid-1860s to 1940s. Her work explores class and gender dynamics in the spread of photography in professional and amateur spheres. She has authored “The Photographic Laboratory in the Athenaeum: Cooperation and Social Emancipation in Barcelona 1900–1936” (PhotoResearcher, 41, 2024) and curated the academic cycle The Domestic Camera: Stories of Amateur Photography (Mapfre, 2024).
Dr. Lourdes Delgado Fernández (Barcelona, 1965) is a researcher specialized in the history of Catalan photography, as well as the historical use of photography for facial recognition by police in the United States. She authored ""Mugshot's Bias: A Semantic History of Guilt"" (Photography and Culture, 2017). Delgado and Rius have co-authored multiple scholarly articles on women photographers and female-gendered photographic practices, including contributions to A World History of Women Photographers (Thames and Hudson, 2022) and the chapter “Present, but at the Mercy of Their Time: Photography and Women in Barcelona (1900-1936)”; in Mey Rahola, Photographer (1897-1959) (MNAC, 2022).
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Rius, Núria F. and Delgado, Lourdes, "Allowed Spaces: Social Class, Gender Discourses and Photographic Genres in Barcelona, 1890-1936" (2025). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day 2025. 32.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2025/schedule/32
Allowed Spaces: Social Class, Gender Discourses and Photographic Genres in Barcelona, 1890-1936
Dr. Núria F. Rius and Dr. Lourdes Delgado, Researchers of Spanish and Catalan photography history, Spain
Allowed Spaces: Social Class, Gender Discourses and Photographic Genres in Barcelona, 1890-1936
This proposal examines the intersections of social class, gender discourses, and photographic genres in Barcelona between 1890 and 1936, focusing on how these factors determined the ""allowed spaces"" for women in photographic practice. Additionally, it explores Barcelona as an exemplar of Southern European society that adopted Kodak culture and the “Kodak girl” image, but redefined it within the contexts of both Catholic and workers’ movements codes prevalent in the city during that period.
We will analyse three socioeconomic groups of women photographers:
- Women from the working class were predominantly involved in professional photography, particularly in family studios and as street photographers for commercial purposes. However, they generally did not participate in the amateur photography movement linked to the broader worker's movement.
- For middle-class women, photography was primarily a hobby. They focused on capturing family life and took part in popular photography competitions.
- Upper-class women were more closely associated with 'serious' amateur photography through cultural organisations, such as the bourgeois Hiking Club of Catalonia.
This study will examine how the discourses of the era regarding the “suitability” of photography for women varied according to social class, thereby influencing the photographic genres practised by each group and their subsequent social legitimisation. For instance, whilst working-class women were permitted to work in public spaces as commercial street photographers, upper-class women were encouraged to practise photography in more “refined” contexts such as landscape or fine art photography.
The analysis is based on primary sources such as specialized magazines, advertisements, and archival documents of photographic associations, as well as on the study of the preserved photographs. This study seeks to introduce non-Western-centric examples, and consider both social bias and the cultural ranking of photographic genres as crucial elements in examining women's engagement with photography.
Dr. Núria F. Rius (Barcelona, 1983) is a researcher in Spanish and Catalan photography history from the mid-1860s to 1940s. Her work explores class and gender dynamics in the spread of photography in professional and amateur spheres. She has authored “The Photographic Laboratory in the Athenaeum: Cooperation and Social Emancipation in Barcelona 1900–1936” (PhotoResearcher, 41, 2024) and curated the academic cycle The Domestic Camera: Stories of Amateur Photography (Mapfre, 2024).
Dr. Lourdes Delgado Fernández (Barcelona, 1965) is a researcher specialized in the history of Catalan photography, as well as the historical use of photography for facial recognition by police in the United States. She authored ""Mugshot's Bias: A Semantic History of Guilt"" (Photography and Culture, 2017). Delgado and Rius have co-authored multiple scholarly articles on women photographers and female-gendered photographic practices, including contributions to A World History of Women Photographers (Thames and Hudson, 2022) and the chapter “Present, but at the Mercy of Their Time: Photography and Women in Barcelona (1900-1936)”; in Mey Rahola, Photographer (1897-1959) (MNAC, 2022).
Comments
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