The creation of this photographic collection can be traced back to the original idea of accumulating work by contemporary photographers associated with the city. This was included in one of the general objectives of the Centre de Recerca i Difusió de la Imatge (Centre for Image Research and Diffusion, CRDI), created in September 1997, an institution tasked with learning about, protecting, fomenting, offering and informing the public about the documentary heritage in images in the city of Girona.

We wanted to use the occasion of the Centre’s twentieth anniversary to inform the public about this collection. It has not been established previously since besides ensuring the necessary funding, we had to seek alliances and backing to guarantee a proper selection and excellent results. This has been possible due to the collaboration established with Foto Colectania and, in a more personal capacity, with its director Pepe Font de Mora. Many of the photographs by the artists who are now in our collection have been chosen based on the discussion and analysis of proposals emerging in the framework of this relationship.

Today we are presenting a selection of the work of our photographers, thanks to whom we have created the Contemporary Photography Collection of the Centre for Image Research and Diffusion (CRDI): Josep Maria Oliveras, 2004; Jordi S. Carrera, 2004 and 2011; Vari Caramés, 2005; António Júlio Duarte, 2006; Manel Armengol, 2007; Joan Fontcuberta, 2008; Carlos Pérez Siquier, 2009; Txema Salvans, 2010; Bleda y Rosa, 2011; Isabel Muñoz, 2012; Ferran Freixa, 2013; Manuel Laguillo, 2014; Marcel Font, 2015; Juan Manuel Castro Prieto, 2015 and Israel Ariño, 2016; Martí Llorens and Rebecca Mutell, 2017; Jordi Esteva, 2018; Tanit Plana, 2019; Anna Malagrida, 2020; Consuelo Bautista, 2021, and Jean Marie del Moral, 2022..

The CRDI wishes to continue expanding this collection because we are convinced that the importance of having a sample of the work of the most important photographers of contemporary life must go hand in hand with the municipal commitment to support photographic art, now more intensely than ever.