Reference code

CAT INSPAI 26

Level of description

Collection

Title

Fons Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol

Date(s)

Dates of creation and addition: 1950s-1980s

Volume and support

1,140 photographs, black and white negatives and color slides. Support: plastic nitrate and cellulose acetate; formats: 4 × 10 cm (stereoscopic slides), 6 × 6 cm, 6 × 9 cm and 7 × 7 cm; procedure: silver gelatine bromide process.

Name of producer(s)

Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol

Producer history

Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol (Olot, July 14, 1907 - Girona, December 7, 1983) was a doctor and photography enthusiast. He spent his childhood in Sabadell and graduated with a degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Barcelona. He was a general practitioner in La Pera (Baix Empordà, until 1932) and Borrassà (Alt Empordà, 1932-1935). In 1936, he began practicing in Girona. The same year, he married Carme Prats Canet, and they settled in Can Canet, a house located across from the Creu de Palau neighborhood. Josep Maria Bohigas was fascinated by culture, art, heritage and landscapes. This led to his becoming involved in activities to satisfy these interests, especially throughout the region of Girona. As a result of his outings with archeologist Miquel Oliva Prat, he became an adept connoisseur of archeology and took many pictures on the subject. He also was passionate about painting, music, and reading ¿ he compiled a remarkable library ¿ but the focus of his attention was always photography. In fact, he submitted his work to competitions, and many of his photographs received awards and appeared in magazines, publications and cultural programs in Girona. Thanks to his curious nature, he directed or participated in numerous projects: he was founder and vice-president of the Photographic and Cinematographic Association of Girona and Província (AFIC) ¿ created in Girona in 1954 and very active for two decades, through courses, conferences, exhibitions and advice to members on photographic practices ¿; member of the Girona Excursionist and Sports Group (GEiEG); of Girona Futbol Club, and of the Archeological Association of Girona (AAG). He also contributed to the magazine Revista de Girona. Professionally, he was a member and president of the Brotherhood of Sant Cosme and Sant Damià and treasurer of the Board of the COMG (College of Physicians of Girona). As a speaker, he gave different lectures featuring his own photographs, sharing anecdotes and adventures in a simple and ironic way. The artistic quality of much of his work is evident from the awards he received in competitions to which he submitted it.

Archive history

Josep Maria Bohigas worked as a doctor in Girona and was a great lover of photography. After his death, the house where he had lived, Can Canet, at the crossroads of Carrer de la Creu and Migdia streets, was expropriated by the Ajuntament de Girona and ultimately demolished. In 2010, Pere Peya Fusellas, a family doctor, found part of Bohigas¿ photographic heritage among the remains of a drain where the house had been. Aware of its great value, he took it home (in Flaçà) to preserve it. A small box, another cardboard box and three green file cabinets contained the negatives ¿ in envelopes ¿ and slides, organized by municipality and in alphabetical order. On most of the negative envelopes and slide mounts, the author¿s name and a geographic and chronological description of the image appeared. At the end of 2011, shortly after INSPAI acquired the fonds, an initial inventory was made in Microsoft Excel, using the existing information on the negative envelopes and slide mounts. The old installation units were highlighted, as they would be used to prepare the documentation formalizing the acquisition of the fonds. With the idea of migrating the fonds data to a new catalog, between 2012 and 2013, archive technician Karina Reyes ¿ from the company Imthe ¿ documented some images and transferred everything to a Microsoft Access database named INSPAI Baixes. And, in mid-2014, restorer Jordi Mestre Vergés subjected the fonds to a cleaning and conservation process, as the images contained a lot of dirt and fungi. The photographs were then placed in permanent conservation material.

Details of entry

On November 14, 2011, family doctor Pere Peya Fusellas contacted INSPAI, Centre de la Imatge and offered to donate the Joaquim Bohigas Prats fonds. Centre technicians Sílvia Padrós and Sònia Granel went to Pere Peya¿s house to obtain information that would allow them to assess his interest. They collected the fonds and took it to INSPAI, where it was kept in the Centre¿s repository holdings. The procedure to formalize the donation then began and, in March 2012, Peya submitted a document for this purpose to the Diputació de Girona General Register. Given the chronology, the importance of the subject matter and the good state of conservation, on April 18 Natàlia Navarro Sastre, head of INSPAI, recommended accepting the donation. On April 25, Xavier Soy Soler, president of the Local Cooperation, Cultural and Social Action Commission, proposed the same to the General Meeting, in accordance with a specific text that was to be the donation contract. On May 15, the Board approved the donation. A few months after the acquisition of the fonds, the auditor of the Diputació de Girona realized that it had not been created by Joaquim Bohigas Prats but by his father, Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol. So, the donation was processed again to remedy the mistake, and on September 4, the Board agreed to amend the name of the fonds and change it to match contractual text. Finally, on October 11, 2012, Pere Peya and Jaume Torramadé Ribas, president of the Diputació de Girona, signed the contract that included the recognition of Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol as the owner of the fond¿s name and the transfer of usage rights of the images.

Scope and content

The personal collection of Josep Maria Bohigas Pujol documents his personal and professional life between the 1950s and 1980s. Hiking and the landscape predominate, with a singular focus on religious buildings and events. Its heritage interest also includes farmhouses, country houses and chalets. But the social sphere is also depicted in most of the photographs, with family, friends or work colleagues: communions, meetings of the College of Physicians, heritage meetings, trips... Geographically, Girona counties and the city of Girona stand out, followed by Barcelona and its counties, and then the rest of Catalonia. There are also images from northern Spain, Germany and Switzerland.

Conditions for access

Free and open access.

Related documentation

Author and date(s)

Sonia Granel, January 2022. Preparation of new content, review and update: Roger Mirabent, September 2022.

Sources

Descriptive elements of most negative envelopes and slide mounts Administrative documentation related to the acquisition and technical treatment of the fonds.