The Ministry of Culture has awarded Cristobal Jara the 2022 National Photography Award for a “unique contribution” to his career, recognized for “the unique language and influence his work has on the Spanish photographic imagination.”

“His work echoes painting, literature and popular culture, where the lines that separate document from fiction are blurred. Many current photographers claim to be the heirs of their work, which continues to be tirelessly updated, ”the jury’s decision says.

The prize is secured by 30,000 euros.

Hara (Madrid, 1946) studied law and business administration in Madrid, Hamburg and Munich. He began photography in 1969 in London under the influence of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

His work was exhibited for the first time in the traveling exhibition “Three Photographers” organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1974. In those years, he collaborated with agencies such as John Hillelson (London), Viva (Paris) or Cover (Madrid). ).

Although he only worked in black and white, from 1985 he began to use color, which allowed him to practice photojournalism and “find his own photographic language, evolving in a direction in which the line between reality and fiction was blurred.” indicates an error.

His photographs have been published in magazines such as Aperture, Camera, Creative Camera, DU, Photovision and European Photography; as well as in the magazines El País, La Vanguardia and El Semanal.

His work is in the collections of institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among others.

He has published numerous books such as 4 Things from Spain; “Vanitas, Utrera and Murcia”, “Photo Bolsillo” or “Counternature”.

The jury consisted of Pilar Aymerich Puig, National Photography Prize 2021; Nicholas Combarro Garcia, visual artist, director and exhibition curator; Lee Douglas, researcher and lecturer; Ines Plasencia Camps, researcher, teacher and cultural manager; Rosalind Williams, independent exhibition curator and visual artist; José Enrique Fon de Mora Busutil, Director of the Foto Colectania Foundation, among others.