Emili Massanas i Burcet Fonds and Collection

Pont Major, 27/09/1940 - Girona, 25/08/1991

Designer, amateur photographer and image collector

Acquisition of the Emili Massanas i Burcet Fonds, containing images dating from ca. 1870-1990, was the result of an agreement between the heirs of Emili Massanas (Francesc and Lluís Massanas i Burcet) and Girona Provincial Council. The fonds consists of photographs from the author's family, a personal funds of his own photographs (individual, family and group portraits, designs, exhibition mounting, etc.), and a collection of scenes from bygone days gathered on his trips around the towns and villages of Girona province and elsewhere.

Girona Provincial Council passed a resolution at the Plenary Session held on 16th March 1993 to establish an Image Archive dedicated to the memory of Emili Massanas i Burcet.

Other documentation linked to this fonds::

- Documentation generated by Emili Massanas on the first photographers working in Girona province and compilations of photographic material from the same geographical area.
- Documentary material on the life of Emili Massanas as collector and photographer.
- Cameras and other complementary material (magic lanterns, slide projectors, lenses, etc.).
- Auxiliary library of old books on photography and photographers from all eras.

Fitxa del fons

Àrea d'identificació
IF-de referència
CAT INSPAI 1

Nivell de descripció
Fons

Títol
Emili Massanas i Burcet Fonds and Collection

Data/es
Inclusive dates: 1845-1991

Volum i suport
14,591 positives on paper (collection: 12,350; personal fonds: 2,241); 6,000 glass plates, positives and negatives (collection); 1,600 medium-format plastic negatives (collection); 10 direct positives (collection); 18 film stocks; 72 photographic apparatuses, additional material, and 546 boxes of original photographic material (collection); 25 units of documentary and research material on the history of photography (personal fonds), and personal library (collection).
Àrea de contingut i estructura

This photographic collection unites Mr Emili Massanas i Burcet's personal fonds and the collection he created throughout his activity as photography historian.

In the more personal and family sphere, we can find portraits of his ancestors taken by photographers such as Unal or Mur, among others, and reports on Emili's social life and his circle of friends.

The chronological scope spans from the end of the 19th century until 1990 and, geographically, it is focused on Sant Feliu de Guíxols, the original municipality of the Massanas family, and Girona, their place of residence.

Within the collection, we find a large group of postcards from the beginning of the 20th century with images of Girona province, the rest of Catalonia, Spain, and Europe. The subject matter is varied: there are images of landscapes, towns, the Costa Brava, daily life, group portraits, studio portraits, portraits of well-known photographers such as Valentí Fargnoli, Adolf Zerkowitz, Llucià Roisin, Ricard Mur, and Josep Esquirol, among others.

We also find examples of old albumen, cyanotype, and gelatin processes from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and from a geographic area that spans from Girona province to South America. The subject matter is focused on studio portraits and landscapes, with important photographers such as members of the Unal family, Ricard Mur, and Pere Ferrer-Barber, among others.

Another group worth highlighting is the group of stereoscopic photographs from 1920 to the mid-1930s. They include images of landscapes in Catalonia and above all in Girona province, and others that illustrate subjects of ethnological interest, exotic landscapes, and scenes for recreational or educational purposes. We also have albumen prints by 19th-century photographer Jean Laurent.

The direct positives and the oldest objects in the collection from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century are mostly studio portraits of photographers and images of unknown geographic areas.

The documentary material and the personal library gather information on the history of photography and photographers in general and specifically in Girona province.

Imatges del fons