Biography


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Navia (Madrid, 1957)

Photographer. A degree in Philosophy in 1980.
My work as a reporter is giving rise to a more personal and delayed photograph, always in color and in the field of documentary. My images are nourished by a deeply Iberian root and explore territories and people linked in one way or another to my origins and my culture. I am obsessed with the power of meaning of photography and its relationship with literature, with words.

In 2018 a new, completely renewed edition of the Navia monograph in the PHotoBolsillo collection is presented.

In 2017 I published the book Castilla, with a text by Miguel Delibes. And Salzillo. La vida en torno, book and exhibition produced by the Salzillo and Los Molinos del Río museums, of Murcia.

During the years 2014-2015 I have been working fully in the exhibition and the book Miguel de Cervantes o el deseo de vivir (Miguel de Cervantes or the Wish to Live), (AC/E, Instituto Cervantes and Ediciones Anómalas). In 2016-17 this exhibition has traveled through Spain, Brazil and different countries in Europe and North Africa.

Nostos (book published at the end of 2013 and exhibition at PhotoEspaña 2014 and itinerant) continues my most personal line of work, which began with Pisadas sonámbulas: lusofonías (2001, second edition 2008).

In addition to different press media (member of the Vu agency, Paris, since 1992), other books and exhibitions give an account of my work:

Cuenca en la mirada, 2014;  Luz y Sombra, 2014; Un Madrid literario, 2009; Ciudades Patrimonio de la Humanidad (World Heritage Cities), 2008; Antonio Machado, miradas, 2007; La creciente, 2006; Viaje a la Historia (Journey to History), 2005; Territorios del Quijote (Territories of Don Quixote), 2004; Marruecos, fragmentos de lo cotidiano, 2003; Desde la catedral, 2003; Navia (PHotoBolsillo) 2001.

And some books and collective exhibitions: Vu'15 ans, Viaje a Madrid, Saharauis, sólo el desierto, Diez miradas (Ten Views), 100 fotógrafos españoles (100 Spanish Photographers), Visiones de Marruecos, Agence VU'galerie, Photo by Photo, Diccionario de fotógrafos españoles.



CURRICULUM
 José Manuel Navia

Madrid, 1957.
I earned a degree in Philosophy from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1980). I studied with the anthropologist Julio Caro Baroja in 1991. I married Carmen Martín in 1979, in 1980 our son Miguel was born.

Photographer since I  was 17 years old. My work as a reporter was giving rise to a more personal and delayed photograph, always in color and in the field of documentary. My images are nourished by a deeply Iberian root and explore territories and people linked in one way or another to my culture. I am obsessed with the power of meaning of photography and its relationship with literature, with words.

Books and individual exhibitions:

- Navia, 2017. New, completely renewed edition of the monograph of the PHotoBolsillo collection of La Fábrica, with a prologue by Julio Llamazares.

- Castilla (Castile), 2017. Photo essay on the text by Miguel Delibes Viejas historias de Castilla la Vieja, edited by Ken, Pamplona.

-Salzillo. La vida en torno (Salzillo. The Life Around) 2017. Book and exhibition produced by the Salzillo and Los Molinos del Río museums in Murcia, with a text by Gustavo Martín Garzo.

- Miguel de Cervantes o el deseo de vivir (Miguel de Cervantes or the Wish to Live). Book co-edited by AC/E, Instituto Cervantes and Ediciones Anómalas. Madrid-Barcelona 2015. A subjective view to  the places present in the life and work of Cervantes. Exhibition at the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid (December 2015 to May 2016) and itinerant in 2016 and 2017. Through Spain: Avilés, Almagro, Málaga, Granada, Guadalajara, Barcelona, ​​Ciudad Real, etc. Two other itinerant versions abroad: Brazil, Sarajevo, Naples, Tirana, Palermo, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Tunisia, Algeria, Paris, etc.

  - Nostos. Book published by Ediciones Anómalas, Barcelona, ​​2013. Exhibition at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, within PHotoEspaña Festival. June-September 2014.
This work is a meditation on the journey as a metaphor of life, and continues my most personal line of work, which began with Pisadas sonámbulas and which also includes under way works on Morocco, Latin America or the interior lands, among others.

- Cuenca en la mirada (Cuenca in the Eye). Book published by the Diputación de Cuenca and Ediciones Anómalas, within the collection of photography books directed by Publio López Mondéjar. Foreword by Gustavo Martín Garzo. Cuenca, 2014. Exhibition at the Fundación Antonio Pérez, Cuenca, September-October 2014, and itinerant.

- Luz y sombra (Light and Shadow), 2014. Edited by Mauricio d'Ors for the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla, within its collection of author photography books Imágenes de La Maestranza.

- Un Madrid literario (A Literary Madrid) published by Lunwerg, Barcelona, ​​2009. Text by Caballero Bonald. Exhibition at the Museum of the City, Madrid, (April-September 2009). Collection acquired by the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid.

- New edition of Pisadas sonámbulas: lusofonías (Somnambulant Footprints: Lusophonies). La Fábrica, Madrid, 2008. Book on the territories of the Portuguese language. Exhibition at the V Encuentros de Fotografía de Gijón (Photography Meetings) 2008, and at the Mirartephoto festival in Guadalajara 2011, among others.

- Ciudades Patrimonio de la Humanidad (World Heritage Cities), published by La Fábrica, Madrid, 2008. Foreword by Gustavo Martín Garzo. Traveling exhibition in the thirteen Spanish cities until 2010. And from 2011 to 2014 through the network of Cervantes Institutes (Krakow, Moscow, New Delhi, Tunis, Istanbul, Palermo, Naples, Rome).

- Antonio Machado. Miradas (Antonio Machado. Views) published by Caja Duero, Salamanca, 2007. Text by Ian Gibson.

- La Creciente (The Flood), exhibition with the Centre de Fotografía Documental (Documentary Photography Center) of Barcelona in the Jaume Fuster Library, in 2006, about literary territories in Latin America. Travelling to Paris (Bobigny) in 2017.

- Viaje a la Historia. España en tres mil años (Journey to History. Spain in Three Thousand Years), published by Lunwerg, Barcelona, ​​2005. Text by J. E. Ruiz-Domènec,

- Territorios del Quijote (Territories of Don Quixote), published by Lunwerg, Barcelona, ​​2004. Texts by Julio Llamazares, González Cuenca, Martín de Riquer and Carlos Alvar. Exhibition at the National Library of Madrid, 2005; Alcalá de Henares, 2005; Centro Português de Fotografia, Porto 2005; and itinerant with the Cervantes Institute and SEACEX through different cities in Europe, Africa and Latin America between 2005 and 2007.

- Marruecos, fragmentos de lo cotidiano (Morocco, Fragments of Everyday Life), is an under way work since 1991, which was initially published by the magazine Altaïr / Grup 62, Barcelona, ​​2003. Traveling exhibition: Cartagena, 2009; art fair Estampa, Madrid, 2012, etc.

- Desde la catedral (From the Cathedral), published by the Foundation Cathedral of Santa María de Vitoria. Exhibition at the Artium museum in Vitoria in 2003, and traveling to Valencia and Lisbon in 2004.

- La soledad y el deseo (Loneliness and desire), small format book and exhibition in Valencia, 2002.

- Pisadas sonámbulas: lusofonías (Somnambulant Footprints: Lusophonies), book fruit of my work in Portugal and the countries of the Portuguese language, La Fábrica, 2001. Exhibition in PhotoEspaña Festival (at the Botanical Garden) Madrid, 2001; Irún, 2006; Autonomous University, Madrid, 2006.

- Navia, monograph from the PHotoBolsillo collection, La Fábrica, 2001. Prologue by Julio Llamazares: The Tin of Quince Jelly. Exhibition in the Photogalería of Madrid the same year, and itinerant.

- Hacer fotos: un lenguaje (Taking Photos: a Language). ICCE, Madrid, 1978. My first book, published when I was 20 years old, deals with some theoretical and practical aspects of the use of photography in education, an area in which I worked at that time.

Some books and collective exhibitions:

-  Diccionario de Fotógrafos Españoles (Dictionary of Spanish Photographers), published by La Fábrica, Madrid, 2013.

- Photo by Photo. A portrait of Spain. SEEI, 2010, book-catalog for the Shanghai Expo 2010 and itinerant for different countries in Asia and Africa.

- Visiones de Marruecos (Views of Morocco). Published by SEACEX / Lunwerg, 2006 and exhibition at the Fundación Tres Culturas, Seville, 2006, and touring through six cities in Morocco in 2007.

- Agence VU 'galerie. Book edited by Robert Delpire for the Photo Poche collection, Paris, 2006, and exhibition at the Vu Gallery in Paris, 2006, and itinerant.

- 100 fotógrafos españoles (100 Spanish Photographers). Book edited by Rosa Olivares (EXIT). Madrid, 2005.

- España, diez miradas (Spain, Ten Views). Published by SEEI / Lunwerg, Barcelona, ​​2005 and exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (on the occasion of the 2005 Aichi Expo), and traveling through different cities (2005-2008).

- Un viaje a Madrid (A Trip to Madrid). T Ediciones, Madrid, 2004, and exhibition at the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid in the same year. Work directed by Mauricio d'Ors.

- Saharauis, sólo el desierto (The Sahrawis, Only the Desert). 2004. Book and exhibition based on work with six other photographers in the Sahrawi camps in Algeria.

- Vu '15 ans. Ed. La Martinière, Paris, 2002 and traveling exhibition in Europe.

- Una geografía. Ocho viajes andaluces (A geography. Eight Andalusian Trips), published by the José Manuel Lara Foundation, Seville, 2002. And an itinerant exhibition in Andalusia.

- Galicia a pé de foto (Galicia at the foot of the photo). Book published by Lunwerg and the UIMP, Barcelona, ​​1987.

I worked in editorial photography between my 17 and 30 years and I am a freelance photographer since 1987, first as a member of the Cover agency and since 1992 as a member of the Vu agency (Paris). I regularly publish in the main Spanish and foreign media. I have maintained a close relationship with "El País Semanal" since 1992 (where I also worked as a picture editor in 1995-96).

Some awards: Fotopress 1987 Award (and by categories in 1989, 90, 91), La Caixa Foundation. Society of Newspaper Design Awards, USA (as photographer and picture editor), in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Godó Award for Photojournalism 1999 (Conde de Barcelona Foundation / La Vanguardia newspaper). Image Award 2006 of the Spanish Geographical Society.

Different collections house my work, such as: Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid, Collection of the Community of Madrid, Marugame Hirai Museum of Japan, collection of the Alcobendas City Council, collection of the Santa María Cathedral Foundation of Vitoria, and La Galería de La Fábrica, Madrid.

Teamwork with Carmen Martín Eizaguirre and Marta Martín Emaldi.