Light of Spain

These pages tell the story without words of a journey through Spain in which Fernando Manso visited unknown and hidden corners and captured them on the plates of his large-format camera.

These pages tell the story without words of a journey through Spain in which the author, the photographer Fernando Manso, visited unknown and hidden corners and captured them on the plates of his large-format camera. From the remotest parts of Galicia to those of Almería, he passed through coasts, deserts and mountains, stopping at old churches, ghostly castles or majestic cathedrals, in forests and gorges, at natural pools and salt mines, and at cemeteries, Arab baths and hermitages carved out of the rock.

Fernando has made the light of these places into the leading figure of his journey. His is a different light, as he has relinquished blue skies and brilliant sunshine, often the stuff of clichés, to make way for visions of places that appear to us with such intimate truth that even if we know them, we can barely recognize them. This is thanks to his technique, his art and the patience with which he waits for the light.

Fernando’s luxury is being able to use all the time in the world to draw us into an artistic heritage that is sometimes secret and hard to reach, and which the viewer has to know how to see. He reveals these places, often in danger of disappearing, after detailed investigation. Both architecture and landscape – for he knows that natural scenery is also a major patrimony that has to be affectionately preserved and protected from speculation – belong to all of us, and we are responsible for their care. We must be aware of this.

The result of that trip is this publication, with beautiful images in reproductions of exceptional quality that present us with a vision of Spain in a different light.

Fernando Manso (Madrid, 1961) is a nostalgic explorer of unexplored spaces who goes to photograph his landscapes without a return time and who, in the middle of 2024, photographs with negative plates. That is why he is called the Antonio López of photography. In his photos he offers a different and magical vision and reflects the image in his head, providing a poetic vision of things. He uses a large-format analogue Ebony camera (handmade by skilled Japanese craftsmen from Madagascar ebony wood and titanium) with 10×12 negative plates. He studied in the United States, where he was introduced to analogue photography, which soon became his great passion.

From the age of 23 to 27 he managed the professional photography department of Canon Spain, advising professional press and fashion photographers. From the age of 27 to 29 he worked for the advertising agency Contrapunto. And at 29 (1990) he decided to continue on his own as an advertising photographer, working as a freelance photographer for many of Spain's major commercial campaigns. Finally, since 2006, at the age of 45, he has been distancing himself from the world of advertising and focusing on the artistic path.