Janus. Photography's Double Face. Works from the Permanent Collection

Janus. Photography's Double Face takes its name from the Roman mythological god represented by two faces looking in opposite directions and which symbolises change and transition. The name has been used as a metaphor for the transformation of photography, displayed in a series of dichotomies: analogue/digital, negative/positive, monochrome/colour, reality/fiction, creation/manipulation, documentary/art. The exhibition collects snapshots by 33 authors that have been taken over the last twenty years and which belong to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Collection, many of which have been acquired only recently and have hardly ever been exhibited in public. This exhibition aims to reflect not only the new paradigm emerging from contemporary art, but also the way in which it has been incorporated into the same Collection.

The chosen photographs are not about social documentary or identity or stereotypes, all common themes in contemporary photography, but deal with the structures of power in the contemporary world, their importance, how they work and how they affect humans.

The sample has been divided into three thematic sections that converge in the critical eye of the various artists: Arquitectura: poder y política, (Architecture: power and politics), El paisaje: poder y progreso, (The landscape: power and progress), Personas: El poder interior (People: The power within). A political dimension runs through them and connects them with the audience.