Spain. Contemporary Spanish Photography edited by Betty Hahn.

University of New Mexico Press, 1987. First edition. 123 pages. Fine, like new in hard cover with protected dust jacket. Dust jacket not faded as this one is prone to do.  Includes a history of Spanish photography by Joan Fontcuberta.  Photographic portfolios by Carlos Bosch, Toni Catany, Koldo Chamorro, Joan Fontcuberta, Ferran Freixa, Cristina García Rodero, Albert Gonzalo, Jordi Guillhumet, Fernando Herráez, Eduardo Momeñe, Rafael Navarro, Humberto Rivas, América Sánchez, and Javier Vallhonrat.  Summary:

Contemporary Spanish Photography (1987), edited by the influential American photographer and educator Betty Hahn, was a landmark publication that introduced English-speaking audiences to the radical shift in Spanish visual culture following the end of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in 1975.

Core Themes and Historical Context

The Post-Franco "Invasion": The book documents the creative explosion of the late 1970s and 80s, known as La Movida Madrileña. After decades of censorship and "pictorialist" traditions, Spanish photographers began experimenting with provocative, surreal, and highly personal themes.

Beyond Documentary: Edited by Hahn (who was known for her own boundary-pushing alternative processes), the collection moves away from traditional photojournalism. Instead, it features works that lean into staged photography, eroticism, social critique, and formal abstraction.

Regional Identity: While centered on Madrid and Barcelona, the book highlights how Spanish photographers used the medium to rediscover regional identities—Basque, Catalan, and Andalusian—that had been suppressed under nationalist rule.

Key Photographers Featured

The anthology includes several figures who became titans of European photography, including:

Joan Fontcuberta: Known for his conceptual "hoaxes" that question the truth of the photographic image.

Cristina García Rodero: Famous for her "Black Spain" series, documenting the raw, haunting, and sometimes bizarre religious rituals of rural villages.