Toni Catany

Toni Catany, was born in 1942 in Llucmajor, Majorca. He is part of a generation of Spanish artists who were born in the shadows of Franco’s dictatorship. At the age of 18 he travelled to Barcelona to study Chemistry, a journey that would later transform his life. In Barcelona he mixed with the literati and students of the Fine Arts, he soon abandoned his studies in pursuit of photography. Catany is a self-taught photographer who over...
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Toni Catany, was born in 1942 in Llucmajor, Majorca. He is part of a generation of Spanish artists who were born in the shadows of Franco’s dictatorship. At the age of 18 he travelled to Barcelona to study Chemistry, a journey that would later transform his life. In Barcelona he mixed with the literati and students of the Fine Arts, he soon abandoned his studies in pursuit of photography. Catany is a self-taught photographer who over the last three decades has achieved both national and international recognition and accolades. His work first drew attention in the 1970s when he rejected the use of the latest technological innovations in favor of the use of the calotype technique. This little used difficult technique dates back to the beginnings of photography and would seem like a poignant place for a master such as Toni to have entered the public arena.

‘Palitana 2009’ is the artist’s proof and captures the very essence of his work. It is an exemplar of how photography through his lens stops being a one-dimensional visual record of a time, place or people and instead becomes a mirror into the artist’s personal world. He has learnt much from simply studying Indian miniature painting and has travelled extensively throughout India. The ambient light, mood and mysticism that surrounds this photograph of Palitana, one of the most revered Jain pilgrimage sites, shows how a Jain Nun and a pilgrim exchange words along their personal spiritual journeys. It is with such simplicity he conveys an insight into a transitory moment.

Toni Catany has held over 34 solo exhibitions around the world. He has published 11 books on different aspects of his work. The themes have ranged from Nature Mortes to Venice to archaeological ruins such as the Persepolis. In 1990 he won the Recontres Internationales award for photography for his book La mevamediterrania. In the same year he also received an award for photography from the Government of Catalunya. Furthermore, in 1991 he was anointed as a Knight of the Order of the Arts and Humanities by the French Cultural Ministry. Toni Catany received the Leica European Publishers Award for Photography in the Life and Still Life Section in 1997 and in 2001 was awarded the National Prize for Photography by the Spanish Cultural Ministry.

Toni Catany

Palitana

Digital print on paper

10 x 17.5 in

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