This exhibition showcases the work of four photographers who have developed their work in very diverse geographical and generational contexts, yet share a common interest in portraying stories set in very specific environments or on the edge of the ordinary, as well as an ability to generate unique moments of trust and intimacy with the subjects of their photographs.

A New York master of glamour and fashion photography, Richard Avedon was a star when he died in 2004, leaving behind a career spanning six decades. Richard Billingham gained international recognition after the work featured in this exhibition was included in the celebrated and controversial Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1997. Paz Errázuriz began her international career in Chile in the 1980s, against the backdrop of a military dictatorship. The young Hungarian photographer Lilla Szsáz launched her career in 2000, quickly gaining recognition in Europe, the US, and Asia.

In his quest to "make portraits as intense as the people," Richard Avedon (New York 1923-2004) produced photographs that subverted the narrow rules of flattering portraiture and commercial imagery, taking iconic figures—such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor or Marilyn Monroe—to a place somewhere between serious and grotesque that dismantles the image expected of them.

At twenty, Richard Billingham (Birmingham, 1970) began photographing his family in their apartment. Six years later, what had started as a source of images for his paintings had become a substantial body of work, which was published as a book. It wasn't an easy context to make public, not only because it reveals the bleak daily life of a poor family, but also because the snapshots belong to a realm of trust and privacy.

The series by Paz Errázuriz (Santiago, Chile, 1944) display a similar attitude of emotional penetration into often difficult subjects and environments, those living on the margins of society or whose lives have been plunged into precarity and vulnerability. Errázuriz portrays boxers outside the ring or trivial moments in the lives of people who make a living through prostitution, revealing the inner strength that drives these eccentric existences.

A sense of humor and profound respect permeate the work of Lilla Szász (Budapest, 1977), who captures everyday scenes in a process that is both photographic and personal. The series shown in this exhibition represent an attempt to engage with the reality of "souls, lives, stories" that Szász considers transformative precisely because of their uniqueness. She invites us to glimpse the daily lives of Russian Navy heroes forced into exile due to antisemitism in their own country, or, far from there, to experience the pleasure of conversation and sunbathing in Saint Petersburg.

Commissioners: Gerardo Mosquera and Mónica Portillo

Organized by:
PhotoEspaña
CBA

TIMETABLE
Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00. Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 14:00. Closed Mondays.