Gaspar Rul·lan
The mirror of the soul
With his impeccable portraits the photographer’s gaze plants us face to face with the Mallorca of the early 20th century.
photography Gaspar Rul·lan
In every generation there is a part of society that regards technological progress with uneasiness and suspicion whilst the rest embrace and enjoy it unreservedly. Nowadays, people habitually strike a pose on a daily basis in order to show off their best side on social media, but a century ago having a portrait photo taken was something novel and even strange. To capture the essence of the person portrayed, the photographer had to be of the utmost quality. As was the case of Gaspar Rul·lan (Palma, 1896-1973).
For several decades, Rul·lan photographed people of all ages and social classes, from peasants to famous figures like King Alfonso XIII or the writer Robert Graves. The composition and framing did not vary much, although he did use some scenography to create different atmospheres (for a married couple he would use a backdrop with plant motifs, for example. Until at the end of the Spanish Civil War the scenography disappeared and realism prevailed).
His subjects rarely smiled, because for this photographer the [...]
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