Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1955. He studied communication and graduated in 1977. Early in his career, he worked in advertising and taught at the University of Barcelona. In 1980, he helped create the photography magazine Photovision. He later worked as a photographer, writer, teacher and curator.
Fontcuberta became interested in a simple question: can we trust a photograph? His answer was often to create photographs of things that never existed. He copied the style of scientific reports, archives and news photographs so that his fictional stories looked real.
Fontcuberta became interested in a simple question: can we trust a photograph? His answer was often to create photographs of things that never existed. He copied the style of scientific reports, archives and news photographs so that his fictional stories looked real.
Joan Fontcuberta
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«Every photograph is a fiction with pretensions to truth».
In the 1980s, he created Herbarium. At first, the photographs look like old botanical studies. They show strange plants with detailed descriptions. But the plants were made by Fontcuberta from pieces of plastic, plants, bones and other objects. He then photographed them as if they were real scientific specimens.
Another project, Fauna, was created together with photographer and writer Pere Formiguera. They invented a German zoologist named Peter Ameisenhaufen and built an entire archive around his supposed research. It included photographs of unknown animals, field notes, X-rays, drawings and other “scientific” materials. Fontcuberta made the photographs, while Formiguera wrote the texts. One of the invented animals, Alopex Stultus, was described as a shy herbivore that tried to hide from danger by putting its head into the ground next to a bush, as if it were a plant. Another creature, Cercopithecus Icarocornu, looked like a monkey with a unicorn horn and wings. The photographs and detailed descriptions made these imaginary animals look like real scientific discoveries.
One of Fontcuberta’s best-known projects is often described through the idea of “stranger than fiction”. His work turns invented stories into photographs that look like real documents, scientific records or news reports. This approach became one of the main features of his career: instead of simply editing photographs, Fontcuberta creates entire stories around them, giving viewers photographs, documents and other details that make the fiction look believable. His projects such as Herbarium, Fauna, Karelia and Sputnik all use this method in different ways. The result is a simple but difficult question: if a photograph looks real, why do we believe it? The Hasselblad Foundation describes Fontcuberta’s work as a long-term investigation of photography, reality, fiction and the claims of truth made by images.
Another project, Fauna, was created together with photographer and writer Pere Formiguera. They invented a German zoologist named Peter Ameisenhaufen and built an entire archive around his supposed research. It included photographs of unknown animals, field notes, X-rays, drawings and other “scientific” materials. Fontcuberta made the photographs, while Formiguera wrote the texts. One of the invented animals, Alopex Stultus, was described as a shy herbivore that tried to hide from danger by putting its head into the ground next to a bush, as if it were a plant. Another creature, Cercopithecus Icarocornu, looked like a monkey with a unicorn horn and wings. The photographs and detailed descriptions made these imaginary animals look like real scientific discoveries.
One of Fontcuberta’s best-known projects is often described through the idea of “stranger than fiction”. His work turns invented stories into photographs that look like real documents, scientific records or news reports. This approach became one of the main features of his career: instead of simply editing photographs, Fontcuberta creates entire stories around them, giving viewers photographs, documents and other details that make the fiction look believable. His projects such as Herbarium, Fauna, Karelia and Sputnik all use this method in different ways. The result is a simple but difficult question: if a photograph looks real, why do we believe it? The Hasselblad Foundation describes Fontcuberta’s work as a long-term investigation of photography, reality, fiction and the claims of truth made by images.
Fontcuberta used the same approach in Sputnik. The project told the story of a fictional Soviet cosmonaut named Ivan Istochnikov, who supposedly disappeared during a space mission. Fontcuberta created photographs and documents to support the story. The work showed how easily photographs and official-looking documents can make fiction seem like history.
In 2002, Fontcuberta created Karelia: Miracles & Co., a project about a fictional visit to a monastery in Karelia, Finland. He presented the monastery as a place where monks were taught to perform miracles. Fontcuberta himself appeared in the photographs dressed as a monk, performing impossible acts such as walking on water and surfing with a dolphin. The series looked like evidence of a real religious story, but everything was part of his fictional project.
His projects are built around deception, but the real subject is our trust in photographs. We often believe an image because it looks scientific, official or familiar. Fontcuberta uses this habit against us.
In 2002, Fontcuberta created Karelia: Miracles & Co., a project about a fictional visit to a monastery in Karelia, Finland. He presented the monastery as a place where monks were taught to perform miracles. Fontcuberta himself appeared in the photographs dressed as a monk, performing impossible acts such as walking on water and surfing with a dolphin. The series looked like evidence of a real religious story, but everything was part of his fictional project.
His projects are built around deception, but the real subject is our trust in photographs. We often believe an image because it looks scientific, official or familiar. Fontcuberta uses this habit against us.
«The heart [of my work], the quintessential, remains the questioning of photographic truth».
Digital photography made this question even more important. Images can now be changed easily on a computer, but Fontcuberta points to another problem: a photograph does not need to be digitally altered to deceive us. The story around an image can be enough.
Fontcuberta has also worked as a teacher, writer and curator. He directed the artistic programme of the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival in 1996 and taught photography and audiovisual communication at universities in Spain and the United States.
Fontcuberta has also worked as a teacher, writer and curator. He directed the artistic programme of the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival in 1996 and taught photography and audiovisual communication at universities in Spain and the United States.
In 2013, he received the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. The foundation recognised his long-term work about photography, reality and fiction.
Joan Fontcuberta often starts with something that looks like a fact and turns it into fiction. His strange plants, imaginary animals and fictional cosmonaut are all made to look believable. The question he leaves the viewer with is simple: when you see a photograph, what makes you believe it is true?
Joan Fontcuberta often starts with something that looks like a fact and turns it into fiction. His strange plants, imaginary animals and fictional cosmonaut are all made to look believable. The question he leaves the viewer with is simple: when you see a photograph, what makes you believe it is true?