The memory of the courageous peloton was beaten again this Thursday in Seville. The Arena Poster Room Royal Maestranza hosted the presentation of the second volume of ‘Memories of the brave field. One hundred years of photography … unpublished (1860-1960)’a monumental work published by Loose verse which rescues, with an almost archaeological spirit, images hidden for decades in the private archives of the main Spanish breeding farms.
The event included remarks from the editor-in-chief, Mariana Gasset de Leyvaaccompanied by Lorenzo Clemente, Francisco Núñez Benjumea, Rafael Peralta Revuelta and Francisco Rivera Ordóñezwho highlighted the profound documentary work that underlies a volume destined to become an essential reference for lovers of fighting bulls and Spanish rural history.
An album that breathes the countryside and the century
If the first volume surprised by the rarity of the material saved, this second part – 304 large format pages – dives even deeper into the heart of the courageous livestock, from Salamanca to the Doñana marshes. The book offers unpublished photographs which show temptations, harassments and demolitions, tasks on the ground and scenes which, more than images, are fragments of an ancient liturgy.
Among them, the shocking snapshot of a bull run Antonio Pérez-Tabernero in Villar de los Álamos (1950), led by the famous Oxen of America from Colorado Miura; or this other in which Atanasio Fernández And Manoletetwo colossi from parallel worlds, pose at the entrance to Campocerrado in 1940. A rumor from the period also arises in the scene which brings together Juan Vázquez, Joselito ‘El Gallo’, Marquis de Tamarón and Rafael Barrionuevowitnesses of a field which was a natural antechamber of the arena.
A presentation with a traditional scent
During the presentation, the participants claimed the symbolic value of these images, since they do not teach a profession, they teach a way of life. Rafael Peralta Revuelta emphasized that “Photographs are a window into the past that saves us from the historical, cultural and ecological value of the wild countryside and our pastures.”
For her part, the editor explained that the objective of the project has always been “highlight the fundamental role of the breeder in the Spanish countryside”. Gasset de Leyva stressed that he wanted “save the invisible” and that this work would not have been possible without the help of the breeders: “They opened the doors of their house to me with brotherly hospitality.” Family archives which, without this work, would have been buried in the routine of the attics.
The speakers agreed that this volume is not just a publication, but a piece of collective memory, bridge between historical breeding and contemporary sensitivity.
An editorial gem
The book is available at the price of 80 euros, and its publication coincides with a moment when the courageous field – culturally and socially discussed, but also more observed than ever – You must look at your own history to understand your present.
This evening, Sevilla did it again: transforming a book into an event. And remember, as long as there is a bull in the field and a camera looking at it with respect, time will continue to have memory.
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