The National Center of Photography (CNF), a state-owned center of the Ministry of Culture, has presented today at the Niemeyer Center of Avilés the exhibition ‘Photographic constellations. Think from the images’.
Organized by the National Center for Photography in collaboration with the Niemeyer Center, this exhibition is the first public presentation of the CNF collection since its creation, a fund that has the will to be representative of contemporary Spanish photography. Made up of 102 works by 38 artists, the exhibition covers some of the main names, languages and trends of contemporary Spanish photography.
With this exhibition, the National Photography Center reaffirms its commitment to the conservation, research and dissemination of the Spanish photographic heritage through collaboration with different institutions throughout the territory.
A varied representation of photography
The exhibition brings together works from all the National Photography Awards awarded to date: Gabriel García Rodero (1996), Joan Fontcuberta (1998), Alberto García-Alix (1999), Chema Madoz (2000), Toni Catany (2001), Joan Colom (2002), Carlos Pérez Siquier (2003), Ouka Pauleele (2005), Manuel Pérez Ferrero (2005)
Through this set of works, the exhibition proposes a reflection on photography as a meeting space between different generations, sensibilities and forms of representation. The images invite you to discover new readings about the past and the present, highlighting the diversity of languages, approaches and concerns that cross contemporary photographic practice.
The exhibition can be visited until January 31, 2027 at the Niemeyer Centre in Avilés, one of the main spaces dedicated to contemporary art and culture in Spain, reinforcing the vocation of the National Photography Centre to collaborate with reference institutions and bring its collection closer to diverse audiences. After its presentation in Avilés, the exhibition will travel through different cities. The first stop, scheduled for next year, will be in Salamanca.
‘Photographic constellations. Thinking from the images’ will be accompanied by the publication of a book with the works exhibited and two texts by Mónica Carabias Álvaro, director of the CNF, and the writer Lara Moreno.
Activities throughout the territory
The National Center of Photography works with the aim of being an element of articulation between artists, professionals, institutions and collectives of photography and visual arts throughout the territory, while advancing the work of adaptation of its headquarters in Soria.
The next activity of the Center will take place in León, on October 6, where the Day of Collecting and Photographic Heritage ‘Guarded Images’ will be held, focused on the conservation of photographic heritage from the perspective of collecting.
In Ciudad Real, on October 22, the Centro de Estudios de Castilla-La Mancha will host the seminar ‘Niépce, 200 years later: the legacy of the first photographic image (1826-2026)’, organized by the University of Castilla-La Mancha with the collaboration of the CNF.
And in Soria, from October 22 to 28, the first edition of the Image Week will take place, an initiative promoted by the CNF that will be developed in different spaces of the city and that has the collaboration of the City of Soria, the Network of Tourism Paradores of Spain, the Public Library of Soria, the UNED Soria, the School of Art and Superior Design of Soria (EASD) and the libraries of the city.
In addition, the participatory project ‘Album of Soria’ continues to receive photographs of the city to digitize them and build a collective visual memory. Interested people can send their images to cnf@cultura.gob.es if they are digital or to the Gaya Nuño Cultural Center of Soria if they are on paper.
A programme that crosses borders
The National Center of Photography also displays its activity outside our borders and presents the exhibition ‘7x7. Contemporary Spanish photography’ at the Cervantes Institute in New Delhi, in the framework of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and India.
The exhibition, which can be visited from October 8 to November 30, brings together works by Jorge Arévalo, Julia Carbonell, David Expsito, Lucía Herrero, Bandia Ribeira, Laura Silleras and Virginia Villacisla. Through these seven artists, a plural view of contemporary Spain is offered and some of the main lines of work of current Spanish documentary photography are brought closer to the international public.
For its part, on November 10, the conference ‘Beyond the document: photography as a knowledge experience’ will be held in Paris, organized by the CNF in collaboration with the Casa de Velázquez, the Sorbonne University and the Complutense University of Madrid, within the framework of the Bicentenaire de la Photographie promoted by the Ministry of Culture of France.