"From the Perfect Photo to Photographic Narrative: 25 Years of History"

Carlos Spottorno

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Join me on a fascinating journey through my 25 years as a photographer. From my first steps as an art director to my forays into advertising, documentary and portrait photography, through photojournalism and video, to a point where I merge image and literature in works such as La Grieta and No volvís a Roma.

The core of this talk will be the creative process behind these two books: not only why I made them, but, more importantly, how. I will share previously unpublished details from “behind the scenes” of La Grieta, offering an intimate and unique view of a work that I have rarely revealed in Spain.

About Carlos Spottorno

Carlos Spottorno was born in Budapest and raised in Rome, Paris and Madrid.
He graduated in Painting and Engraving from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and was an Erasmus student at Loughborough College of Arts & Design, in the UK.

He began his career as an art director in the advertising industry, but in 2001 he decided to change direction towards photography. Since then, he has developed long-term photographic projects, mainly focused on economic, political and social issues, using a wide variety of visual languages according to the needs of each project.

Throughout his career, he has published seven books and has exhibited his work, presented his books and given lectures at numerous international venues and photography festivals, such as Les Rencontres d’Arles (France), Festival Internazionale (Italy), FOMU (Netherlands), Donggang Photo Festival (South Korea), Encontros da Imagem de Braga (Portugal), Lianzhou Photo Festival (China), Noorderlicht (Netherlands), Literaturhaus Berlin (Germany) and Fondation Cartier Bresson (France).

He is also an active educator, giving lectures and workshops at institutions such as the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague (KABK), the School of Journalism of El País, the University of Valencia, Camera School of Torino, EFTI (Madrid), among others.

For more than a decade, he has been a regular contributor to El País Semanal, and his work has appeared in renowned magazines such as National Geographic Spain, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Internazionale and other international media.