Fons Martí Calvo

Martí Calvo fonds

Sebastià Martí Calvo (Girona, 1945 - Santa Afra, San Gregorio, 2013) was a professional photographer who trained with his father, Sebastià Martí Roura, at the family-owned studio on Carrer de la Cort Reial in Girona, starting in the late 1960s. During those years he was also part of the Girona cultural group Els Gralls, together with such important photographers as Jordi Soler, Lluís Bonaventura and Josep Buil.

In 1970 he took photographs for the guidebook Guia turística de Girona, for Editorial Everest.

Until 1980 he also worked as a photojournalist for the magazine Presència. After that, he took over the family studio when his father retired. The studio, located on Carrer de la Cort Reial in Girona, was open until 2000, when he retired.

This is a personal photographic fonds submitted to INSPAI on March 31, 2011. Dated between 1960 and 2000, it consists of approximately 6,000 photographs, positives and negatives of cellulose acetate plastic and polyester made with the gelatin silver bromide process. The images are black and white and color in various formats (6 x 6, 6 x 7, 9 x 12 and 35 mm).

The geographical scope of the photographs is mainly Girona counties, with such interesting subject matter as press photography, reportage, advertising, vistas and landscapes, and social gatherings.

Area of identification
Reference code
CAT INSPAI 23
Level of description
Collection
Title
Martí Calvo fonds
Date(s)
Dates of creation and addition: 1960-2003
Volume and support
37,000 photographs in different formats: 35 mm, 6 × 6, 6 × 7, and 9 × 12 cm negatives in black and white and color on cellulose acetate; and 30 x 40 cm photographic copies on paper.
Context area
Name of producer(s)
Sebastià Martí Calvo
Producer history
ebastià Martí Calvo (Girona, May 21, 1945 - Santa Afra, Sant Gregori, October 14, 2013), called Tià, was a professional photographer who started working in the late 1960s, helping his father, Sebastià Martí Roura, also a photographer, in the family¿s photography studio on Carrer de la Cort Reial in Girona. In 1980, after his father retired, Sebastià Martí Calvo took over the family studio, which focused on studio photography (portraiture and wedding photography) until 2000, when he retired and the shop closed for good. Starting in the 1960s, he also dedicated himself to documentary photography and social reportage. He was part of the Girona cultural group Els Gralls, along with such prominent photographers as Jordi Soler, Lluís Bonaventura and Josep Buil. Starting in the late 1960s, he also worked as a photojournalist for the magazine Preséncia, until 1980. At that point, he joined the Europa Press agency as a photojournalist. In 1970, he took photographs for the guidebook Guia del romànic català, published by Editorial Everest.
Archive history
90% of the fonds are described as an inventory. It has been cleaned, restored and placed in permanent conservation material in INSPAI¿s conservation repositories. 80% have been digitized. Originally, the photographs were ordered chronologically by the date on which they were taken, with a brief description on the envelope of the negatives made by the photographer himself. When acquired by the Centre, in March 2011, part of the fonds was from a private rented apartment located in the Barri Vell (old quarter) in Girona, where the Teixidor store was then located, in Plaça de les Voltes d¿en Rosés, where the photographer had had a laboratory for developing. The other part, more numerous, was from the photography studio on Carrer de la Cort Reial that his father, Sebastià Martí Roura, left him after he retired. This studio suffered damage due to flooding that affected part of the photographic fonds. In the year 2000, and after this photo studio had closed, the fonds was transferred to the home of Sebastià Martí Calvo, located on the Can Parades de Santa Afra estate, in the municipality of Sant Gregori, where the filing cabinets from the studio were also kept. The same filing cabinet, in different drawers, also contained the collection of his father, Sebastià Martí Roura, and the collection of Valentí Fargnoli. This archival history is reflected in the description of the reports: in the field ¿Other records¿, the drawer where the reportage was has been indicated; and in the field ¿Observations¿, if the reportage is from his former apartment in Girona, the origin ¿Botiga T¿ (from Botiga Teixidors) has been noted. The fonds was described between 2011 and 2012 using a photographic negative viewer, as it was not yet digitized. At the same time, it was placed in permanent conservation material in INSPAI¿s conservation repositories. In 2017, restorer and photographer Jordi Mestre cleaned and removed traces of moisture from fifty 30 x 40 cm black and white prints contained in the fonds. During 2017 and 2018, Carlos Vicente and Daniel Casanovas, technicians specialized in digitization and digital image processing, digitized the entire fonds using Hasselblad and Minolta scanners and a Phase One camera. In December 2019, a court appointed expert specialized in the assessment of documentary and photographic fonds completed the economic assessment of the fonds, in addition to providing INSPAI with a reference amount for the insurance and accounting of the fonds. In 2021, restorer and archival technician Anna Ferrer reviewed and validated 7,000 image records from the fonds, expanding the description through a newspaper archive search.
Details of entry
On March 31, 2011, the donation agreement between Sebastià Martí Calvo and the Diputació de Girona was signed. On August 6, 2013, a first addition of the fonds was made. On July 18, 2014, a second addition to the fonds was made.
Content area and structure
Scope and content
The fonds comprises images from Sebastià Martí¿s professional career, from 1960 to 2000. It includes nearly 30,000 images grouped in 2,550 reports on different topics: towns and cities in Girona counties (especially churches and hermitages), coastal and mountain landscapes (from beach views to mountain towns), festivals and social activities in Girona, political activities between 1970 and 1980 involving different well-known politicians at the time, cultural activities such as conferences and exhibitions at the Fontana d'Or and the Casa de Cultura, and sports activities sponsored by Girona organizations such as the GEiEG.
Conditions for access and use area
Conditions for access
Free and open access.
Related documentation area
Related documentation
Control of description area
Author and date(s)
Marta Grassot, June 2012. Updated by Sílvia Padrós, October 2016. Review by Lydia Ballester, September 2022.
Sources
Photographs arranged by municipality and by record number, noted on a typed list with the description of the image.
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Location Legal notice Diputació de Girona 2018