All his life, Luis Baylón sought, in his own words, to “reproduce reality naturally. Without composing or altering the scene. […] To photograph people as they are, as they present themselves to the world, and not as the photographer would like them to be.”
At the age of 26, his father gave him a Rolleiflex camera, which he never parted with. He captured candid moments of children, beggars, prostitutes, and marginalized people. Stray dogs and cats, street musicians, fleeting lovers, nothing escaped his keen eye. His friend Quico Rivas describes the “Baylón formula” as a blend of “great sincerity, a touch of cunning, a certain audacity, and excellent reflexes.”
This book, the first publication of the Madrid-based photographer in France, reveals his world through a selection of black and white images taken between 1982 and 2014 in various cities in Spain (mainly Madrid, but also Barcelona, Benidorm, Murcia, Valencia, and Zamora). The texts by novelist Andrés Barba and photographer Bernard Plossu, both close friends of Luis Baylón, each offer a personal perspective on the approach and unique vision of their former collaborator. By capturing the essence of the Spanish people, Luis Baylón’s work fits perfectly within the tradition of the renowned Delpire publishing house, whose collection includes titles such as Robert Frank’s “The Americans” (1958), Bruno Barbey’s “The Italians” (2022), and Henri Cartier-Bresson and Martin Parr’s “The English” (2023).
Luis Baylón : Les Espagnols
Delpire & co
Texts by Andrés Barba and Bernard Plossu
Book in French
Format: 21 x 18.5 cm
Hardcover with dust jacket
184 pages
91 black and white images
ISBN: 979-10-95821-79-3
Price: €42
http://www.delpireandco.com
