Milicianos en el carrascal de Banastás (Aragón) (Militiamen in the Kermes Oak Grove of Banastás [Aragón])

Kati Horna arrived in Spain in January 1937 by virtue of an assignment from the Foreign Propaganda Offices of the CNT-FAI (National Labour Confederation-Iberian Anarchist Federation) to cover the Civil War, and after training and beginning her photographic career in Berlin and Budapest. Horna travelled through different areas in the peninsula, working with magazines of anarchist and Republican ideology, for instance Umbral (as a photographer and graphics editor), Tierra y libertad, Tiempos Nuevos and Libre Studio. The images she took are striking for their broad view of the conflict and the impact on daily life experienced by inhabitants in Aragón, Andalucía, Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid, and, with a humanistic approach, she steadfastly depicted the resilience and dignity of those affected by the conflict. In 1939, she moved to Mexico, where she was part of the circle of European exiles and artists, along with her husband, the Spanish artist José Horna, continuing her career as a photographer in the fields of documentary and advertising.

Concha Calvo Salanova