Etnographical collections of photos for Spanish Cultural Heritage: women as informants for fieldwork in 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

With this ethographical collections of photos we can see the eyes of the first foreign researchers for Spanish folklore, who came from outside Spain, just Germany and the US; they were looking for the Spanish rural women of the 20s as a source of orality for our popular traditions, from songs and dances to clothing. The searching eyes of these foreign researchers pose d their cameras on the daily work of the Spanish rural women, they saw them on a day to day at home, at the countryside, in the market, or dancing for pilgrimages. In the photographs we can see the survival of ancient traditions and customs associated with the activities of daily women during their life cycle; so, this collection of ethnographic photos are not only works of art, but also a form of concatenation of images, like all oral history, they can speak with their own voice.