Manuel Outumuro has confessed to feeling like an intruder in the world of photography many times, and yet countless celebrities, actresses, models and designers have passed through his lens. With a unique look and respect, over several decades, the Galician photographer who has lived in Barcelona since he was a child has accumulated more than 10,000 images that represent an authentic history of fashion and now part of it is exhibited, starting from March 17, at the Terrassa Textile Museum.
In the exhibition L’ull de l’agulla. For thirty years photographing fashion in Catalonia, Outumuro displays a visual chronology through 42 photos that document that stage (1993-2023). Led by the Photographic Social Vision (PSV) foundation and curated by Imma Cortés, the exhibition could well have put the needle on Italian, French or Spanish fashion, which are also part of its extensive archive, but Outumuro has wanted to offer a first preview through the made in Catalonia, the land that welcomed him.
“They are photos that summarize all the names that have dressed us during these years. Through an exhaustive selection where we have tried not to repeat any designer, but rather give space to everyone and also to influential companies in the sector. From Josep Font, Lydia Delgado, Custo, Mango…”, says Outumuro, who recently received the Lucie Award Achievement in Fashion award.
Outumuro captures fashion with extreme respect for clothing and a clear intention to create a documentary of the time and that spirit is what inspires the Terrassa exhibition, in which he walks through both haute couture and ready-to-wear. porter or streetwear. “It is a very thoughtful work, with photos that have been very prepared, many times constructed with pre-production, even drawn because I often draw the photos,” he details.
“Outumuro dignifies Catalan designers through images that captivate and give importance not only to the clothing, but to all fashion, to the person who wears it, to the model, to the designer, to everything… it is like giving it life to that dress,” highlights Sílvia Carbonell Basté, director of the Terrassa Textile Museum.
The 42 snapshots that are part of the sample have been taken both in the studio and outdoors, commissioned by designers, textile companies or for magazine publications such as Magazine or Fashion
“The selection of garments, for Outumuro, is very important. He always looks for historical references, even if they are aesthetic, that provide added value to the garments or photos,” says Imma Cortés, curator of the exhibition and who, thanks to PSV, has been researching the photographer’s archive for more than a year.
“Compared to the other needles that I have from other countries, in Catalan fashion there is a certain sobriety, like a fear of excess and fantasy, and that is how practical the Catalan people are,” says Outumuro, who He reinvented himself as a photographer at the age of 40 after a prolific period as an art director, illustrator and graphic designer.
“I didn’t intend it, and although I became a photographer by accident, in the end I chose fashion, although I think I spent my life, without knowing it, preparing to be one,” he confesses.
Outumuro is an inexhaustible open field and his next challenge will be to photograph his childhood memories: “They are photos that I would have taken as a child until I was 10 years old in rural Galicia where I lived and how that influenced my photographic work,” he anticipates about his next exhibition, which will deal with origin and memory.
