José Manuel Navia

José Manuel
Navia

biography

Spanish photographer, member of the VU’ agency since 1992, lives and works mainly in Madrid (Spain).

Graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Philosophy in 1980, José Manuel Navia turned professionally towards photography, which he has been practicing since he was 17 years old. In 1987, he left press photography and became a freelance photographer, first in the Cover agency and then in the VU’ agency. He claimed and imposed very early a singular approach of color, from which he composes his images, in a rare subtlety of shades, from deep blacks to delicate monochrome or more distinct tones.

Initially focused on photojournalism, his photography became more documentary and more personal, keeping as a guiding thread a work on light and color. He has explored various territories: Spain, Portugal, Latin America as well as the Philippines, Morocco, or the Niger River, and has documented various subjects, but always related to Iberian, Hispanic or Andalusian cultures.

Inhabited by the question of meaning in photography, questioning its relationship with words, literature and the arts, Jose Manuel Navia also offers photographic journeys in the company of great contemporary writers, or in the footsteps of authors he admires, from Roa Bastos to Sallinger, from García Márquez to Pessõa or from Juan Rulfo to Cervantes.

“Navia” was published by PHotoBolsillo. This book brings together reports from Navia in which the “master” of the use of color and framing presents a humanized vision of the landscapes and peoples of the South: the Mediterranean, Africa, Latin America and any region of the world with Iberian or Latin roots.

Winner of numerous awards, his work is regularly published in the national and international press (especially in El Pais), and exhibited throughout the world. His photographs are included in the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid, collection of the Community of Madrid, Marugame Hirai Museum of Japan, collection of the City Council of Alcobendas, collection of the Foundation of Santa María de Vitoria Cathedral, and La Galería de La Fábrica, Madrid.

Series

Alma Tierra, 2019

Series | While urban and peripheral Spain grows disproportionately, inland and rural Spain are suffering in extremes that would surprise even Spaniards.

The Moorish mark in Tunisia, 2018

Series | In Tunisia on the tracks of the rich and fertile legacy of the Moors expelled from the Iberian peninsula in the 17th century.

José Manuel Navia séries

Castilla, 2017

Série| A new approach to the text Viejas historias de Castilla la Vieja, by Delibes.

José Manuel Navia séries

Salzillo, La vida en torno, 2017

Series | This project on Francisco Salzillo brings together images taken in 2016 and 2017 in Murcia, the city where he was born and lived.

José Manuel Navia séries

Cuenca in the gaze, 2014

Series | Over one winter, Navia has travelled across the rough landscapes of the Spanish province of Castilla-La Mancha, country of Don Quichotte where epochs cohabit and genrations get mixed up.

José Manuel Navia séries

Luz y sombra, 2014

Série| A personal approach on the bullfighting world as fascinating as contradictory.

José Manuel Navia séries