The Private Collection is the indulgence of a photographer devoted to feminine beauty; a celebration of women set in an era that Oriol Maspons lived through and relished: the years of the Gauche Divine, modern, exclusive Barcelona in the 60s and 70s, the arrival of the hippies and the first psychedelic unveilings; the golden age of a privileged, fashionable aristocracy that the author immortalised in a singular private collection starring those "pretty girls" who inspired him to pick up a camera for the first time.
As Maspons himself says, he became a photographer to meet women. And he did so in the years when a Photographer—with a capital P—rubbed shoulders with the cream of the beautiful people. Artists, writers, publishers, singers and bullfighters formed a social circle whose exclusive gatherings took place in Barcelona, Ibiza and Cadaqués, frequented by figures such as Salvador Dalí, Luis Miguel Dominguín and Camilo José Cela, in the company of the most beautiful and daring women of the day.
In The Private Collection Oriol Maspons has brought together more than 70 images of "his girls". Young women from Cadaqués, "pretty girls" from Barcelona, go-go dancers from Ibiza's first nightclubs, waitresses and well-to-do girls, immortalised with harmony and an extraordinary sense of humour, at times bordering on theatricality. Their poses reveal a strong dose of surrealism, along with a subtle interplay of tenderness, fetishism and provocation. This is apparent in the young women he photographed at Dalí's house—women dressed by Paco Rabanne—or in the models he used to illustrate the famous covers of Seix-Barral's Biblioteca Breve.
A nostalgic black-and-white kaleidoscope complemented by the author's suggestive comments —Former posh girls fallen on hard times, Chick cooling off, Strapping Norman lass having breakfast, Experienced French model playing cat on a roof...—which exemplify Maspons's wonderful sense of humour.
With a foreword by José Luis de Vilallonga, the edition also includes texts by friends and people with a deep knowledge of Maspons's work. Singer Joan Manuel Serrat, photographer Carlos Pérez Siquier, publisher Óscar Tusquets and writers Juan Marsé and Francisco Umbral are among the contributors.
