PHotoESPAÑA will curate a project in which the work of Sebastião Salgado is put into dialogue with the funds of the Royal Collections.

Landscape photography is the common thread of this project that aims to investigate the sublime character of wild nature and free of human traces.

Landscape photography is an important tribute to the imposing and valuable wealth of our planet: the analysis of the relationship between man and nature and the view that photographers have offered of it throughout history are of great help to us to rediscover new ways of perceiving the world.

In each of its editions, PHotoESPAÑA has been aware that the challenge of the 21st century is sustainability and the conservation of our natural heritage: it is therefore necessary to emphasize the personal and subjective perspectives that photographic work offers us, an authentic engine to understand and value our relationship with the environment.

This year we have the enormous privilege of being able to access the Royal Collections of National Heritage, guarded by the General Archive of the Palace and the Royal Library of the Royal Palace. All the historical photographic material of National Heritage is preserved and studied in them, including central figures of European photography in the 19th century such as W. Atkinson, P. Nadar, J. Laurent, C. Clifford or Wodbury & Page. A large part of the archive is due to Elizabeth II's interest in photography. She was the one who promoted the creation of those valuable funds that document the life of the 19th century.

The nature portraits made by these authors caught our attention, since, although they were not the main objective of their travels, mainly aimed at photographing public works or cultural events, they are always present in their work in an unavoidable way.