Isabel Steva (Barcelona, 1940), better known as Colita, will tomorrow receive the highest award of the College of Journalists of Catalonia: the Office of Journalist award, a well-deserved recognition of a long professional career that began in the sixties in a self-taught manner. The College highlights "his audacious and provocative photographic work, which challenged established norms and captured the vitality and diversity of Barcelona at that time".
What does receiving this award mean to you?
There is no truer award than the one given to you by your peers. It gives me great honor and pleasure. All my life I have boasted of being a journalist when asked what I do for a living.
Do you understand it as a recognition of photojournalism?
Exactly, it's a way of recognizing the work of photojournalists, who have always been considered "second-rate". I have always fought for the rights of photographers. I remember that the first association of photographers that was founded here was in my house, with Pepe Encinas and Pilar Aymerich, in the seventies or eighties. We thought we'd either create an association of photographers or we'd all go live under a bridge. Because the issue of rights was fatal.
As the College points out, does it feel that "it has managed to capture crucial moments in the history of the city of Barcelona"?
I have worked a lot for several city councils in the metropolitan area, including Barcelona. I could have gone to work abroad, because they suggested it to me, but I was interested in portraying what was happening here. When I had the most fun it was at the Barcelona Olympics. We shared the work with several photographers and the Olympic Village was my turn. I had a really good time, because there was a lot of joy and people were very comfortable in their city, which was also beautiful.
And what has been the worst moment of your career?
Until Franco died, we fought desperately against censorship. After his death, all kinds of magazines came out like mushrooms and it was a splendid time for journalism.
When did you feel you liked photography?
My father gave me a bakelite camera when I was 12 years old and I became very fond of photography by portraying my parents, my grandparents, my dogs and cats... I waited for my father to arrive on Saturdays because carried the revealed photos. It was a party for me.
How did you get started in the profession?
I met Oriol Maspons by chance because he spent the summer near my house, in La Garriga. He took me as an assistant to photo sessions, let me be in the darkroom... Then I worked with Xavier Miserachs and met Català-Roca. From the beginning I was surrounded by the best Catalan photographers and I learned from watching them work and from working with them. I didn't need to go to an academy. Later I specialized and decided that I had to hurry up to make a living from it.
The Ofici prize is also awarded for the fight for women's rights and gender equality. Where do you think we are today?
We've made progress, but we certainly can't claim victory. When they stop murdering a woman every day, then we can start talking about equality. And with regard to labor rights, we have also made progress, but we have not reached equality of wages and salary conditions either. You must continue at the foot of the canyon.
When you take a photograph, what is your priority? What does he want?
inform Explain in a picture everything that is happening. In cinema, you have a lot of time to explain what's going on, but in photography you only have a few tenths of a second.
Photographs, black and white or color?
I prefer black and white, because it is what it is: white, black and gray. Color is all a lie, because a negative will never reflect the true colors you are seeing. I find the color very postcard-like. I've done a lot of color because clients have asked me to, but it's never left me as satisfied as a good black and white photograph.
What is left to portray?
There are always things left in the ink. Sometimes it happens that you don't take your camera on the street, you see a photo, but you can't take it. But yes, there is a photo that has stuck with me. I would have really liked to portray the actress Bette Davis at the San Sebastian Festival. All my life I have felt great admiration for this woman and I would have liked to portray her when I was older. Also, a few months after visiting San Sebastián, he died in Paris. It was his last public appearance.
What legacy would you like to leave to new generations?
The only thing I have tried in life has been to share what I have seen. Be it people, be it situations, etc. I have witnessed our time and my intention was to pass it on. Let people know how we lived, how we felt, what we saw, who were the luminaries of the time we lived in... This is the great gift that photographers give to the next generations: to teach what they saw and reported it.
