"Cuadernos de Fotografía" (1972–1974), a publishing proposal for the dissemination of a testimonial and classic photography in the context and spanish photographic debate of the 1970s

Abstract

To approach properly Spain’s photographic context of the ’70s, it is best to learn about those specialized publications that inaugurate the new decade. The first one was Nueva Lente (1971–1983), a magazine duly noticed and studied by critics, who consider it unanimously a transgressive and enabling agent of creative photography in the ’70’s. Barely a year later, Cuadernos de fotografía (1972–74) was published in Madrid under the direction of photographer Fernando Gordillo. Its personalist character, limited distribution, and short life, have contributed, no doubt, to its scant historiographic attention, obscured as it is under the general label of ‘academic’. This article delves into its peculiar traits and its contributions to the ’70s photographic debate, by listing and analysing for the first time its goals, contents, and contributors: namely, the value of photographic contests, and the claim of total freedom for photography.