page_title: History of Spanish photojournalism
section_title: Photographs of Manel Armengol
hierarchical_section_title: History of Spanish photojournalism / Spanish photojournalism during the Transition era / Photographs of Manel Armengol
caption_attribution_description: Federica Montseny speaks at the historical meeting of the CNT in Barcelona on 1977, the first one after 36 years of dictatorship in Spain.
context_page_description: The history of Spanish photojournalism, developed since the beginning of twentieth century, was closely tied to the cultural, historical and political discourse of the time. The Spanish colonisation of Morocco shaped the photojournalist practices such that, a plethora of photographs were focusing on reaffirming Spain's Islamic past and portraying the ethnic, social and cultural ties of Spain to North Africa. Technical advancements in photography led to a rising interest in photography as publishers began complementing their texts with photographs. During the Civil War photojournalism served as an objective transcription of the realities of the conflict between the Republican and Nationalist forces and influenced public opinion abroad.
  When Francisco Franco rose to power in 1939, photojournalism was constrained by censorship and regulations were put into place to prevent any materials critical of the regime from being circulated. The government controlled the informational input and output and articles and photographs had to be sent for consultation before being published.
context_section_description: One of the first photographs of Armengol during the demonstration shows the police attacking seated demonstrators. His most well-known image shows an old man seated on the ground together with other demonstrators. His hands are raised to his head to protect  himself against the blows of the policemen's sticks who surrounded the group of demonstrators. Another image depicts the solidarity between protesters as they are trying to help the old man stand on his feet while the officers continue to approach the protesters with their sticks ready. Not all the pictures depict violence; some of them focus on the tenseness of the situation.
  Armengol's proximity to the events enabled him to make well-composed, dynamic pictures. The emphasis on action in progress and the implied perspective emphasise the action of the police rather than those of the protesters. All the aspects conveyed in the photographs serve for the readers to identify with the photographer and with the protesters.
caption: Photograph of Federica Montseny speaking at the historical meeting of the CNT in Barcelona in 1977 by Manel Armengol
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