José Latova. Forty years of Spanish archaeological photography

04/05/2017. MAN [MAD] Spain. 27.04 > 27.08.2017
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA

Museo Arqueológico Nacional (MAN) has opened José Latova´s exhibition to the public. "Forty years of Spanish archaeological photography". The exhibition, which will remain open until August 27, is curated by Enrique Baquedano and Agustín de la Casa and follows the career of José Latova Fernández-Luna, a name associated with the most relevant archaeological projects carried out by the last generation of Spanish researchers.

Cueva del Pindal (Pimiango, Asturias). National Inventory of Rock Art.1 987. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Cueva del Pindal (Pimiango, Asturias). National Inventory of Rock Art.1 987. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Cueva del Reguerillo (Patones, Madrid). 2007. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Multispectral imaging in the polychrome room of the Altamira Cave (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria). 2013. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Roman Villa of Noheda (Villar de Domingo García, Cuenca). 2009. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Abrigo de Peñaescrita (Fuencaliente, Ciudad real). 2010. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Cueva Pintada de Gáldar (Gran Canaria). 1988. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

General view of the Temple of Debod (Madrid). 2009. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Roman aqueduct of Los Milagros (Merida). 1976. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

General view of the Visigothic village of Navalahija (Colmenar Viejo, Madrid). 2013. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Digging in the Cave of the Castle (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria). 1985. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Tomb of Hery, Djehuty (Luxor, Egypt). 2012. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Process of assembly of a Roman sculpture in the National Museum of Roman Art of Mérida. 1986. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Image of the burial of the hypogeo 2014. Yacimiento de Arroyo Humanejos (Parla, Madrid), 2011. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Shabti de barro envuelto en lino. Tumba de Djehuti, en Draa Abu el Naga (Luxor, Egipto). 2013. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Shabti of clay wrapped in linen. Tomb of Djehuti, in Draa Abu el Naga (Luxor, Egypt). 2013. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Set of swords and other weapons and objects, dated in the Final Bronze. Port of Huelva. 1997. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Set of materials from Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondújar, Almería). 1997. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Remains of architectural elements in a tavern around the forum of the city of Valeria (Cuenca) .1981. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Pied Piper represented in a limestone steeple of the funeral monument (set A) of Osuna (Seville), from the Iberian period, dating from the III_II century a.C. 2000. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Yacimiento de Atapuerca (Burgos). Abandoned trench of the mining railway in the year of the discovery of the first hominid in the Sima de los Huesos. 1976. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Photographic documentation of the Arch of Medinaceli. 1987. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Set of materials (symbolic ceramics, objects of adornment, idols betilo and hopper) from Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondújar, Almería), one of the most representative deposits of "calcolítico peninsular". 1997. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

Self-portrait with the Dama de Elche. Photograph © Colección Latova. Image courtesy of MAN

More than one hundred photographs, four audio-visual publications and numerous publications show a tour of the MAN that covers the professional career of Latova from its beginnings as Deputy General Manager of the Ministry of Culture to the present, showing the evolution of archaeological documentation and archaeological diffusion.

Excavations, inventories and exhibitions

Throughout his long professional career, the photographer has done a valuable work of archaeological documentation not only in field works, also with the museum funds in inventory tasks and to illustrate catalogs of exhibitions, because the last objective of this process is the dissemination of knowledge of our heritage.

The exhibition is articulated arround several topics:excavation systems in various lands, including underwater archeology, are at the core of the approach, with a special mention of the sites in charge of Spanish missions in Egypt.

Another outstanding area is the one that deals with the inventory of our rock art, a rigorous record of this fragile heritage of the rocky walls of different corners of the Iberian Peninsula. In the itinerary of the exhibition, a spectacular reproduction (ortho-giga-image) on a 1:1 scale of a part of the ceiling of the Cave of Altamira, in which it is possible to be appraised even the smallest detail of its technique of execution.

Other sections on museum collections are included, among them, the rich collections of the National Archaeological Museum; also on the work of dissemination through various publications, especially in exhibition catalogs. One last section is dedicated to the photographer's look. It shows that the research work is combined with the artistic quality in the work of this photographer with the vocation of an archaeologist.

Technological contribution

Latova has been incorporating leading technical and photographic solutions, such as the use of digital technology, photogrammetry, or three-dimensional scans and multispectral image analysis and the taking of multispectral images, that currently are applied in rock art research projects, restoration, preventive conservation or in the excavation project of Djehuty (Egypt). But even when the tools were very elementary he found the resources to overcome the obstacles.

In memoriam

The exhibition is also a tribute to a whole generation of researchers who, thanks to the impulse of public institutions, have been developing in the last forty years an enormous work of recovery of the heritage. Among them, stands out Miguel Angel Otero, also photographer, partner and friend of Latova since 1980 and recently deceased, to whom the catalog of the exhibition is dedicated.