Travelling photographers up to the ‘20s were mainly focused on the monuments of Compostela and people rarely played a central role, as in some works by Charles Thurston Thompson and Lucien Roisin, specialist in postcards that were fashionable in the 20th century.
The most important visitor for us is Pelai Mas, who is the son of the photographer who owns the Arxiu Mas, the agency that had offered Ruth practical lessons. In 1919, he was documenting Galicia for six months, focusing on the artistic and monumental heritage; however, he also paid attention to aspects of everyday life, as we have already seen.
At a Galician level, there have been attempts to form photographic archives of art, monuments and customs, such as that of the Sociedad Arqueológica de Pontevedra, promoted by Casto Sampedro (if you remember, he was the man who met Ruth) although this society primarily focused its attention on archaeology and not on customs. The Seminary of Galician Studies carried out an important iconographic cataloguing and, in 1926, created the ‘Graphic Archive’, which is mainly fed by archaeological and architectural photographs taken during research campaigns or working days. Many of them are from Ksado, who was from Santiago.
It should be noted that the Santiago that Ruth and Alfred lived in was not exactly the same town as it is today. For example, Ruth photographs the scallop shell that can still be seen today on the arch of the entrance to the Post Office and asks the canon what it means, to which he replies ‘That building used to belong to us‘. The building referred to was ‘Casa Grande’, built in the 15th century by the canonry, and which Telefónica ordered demolished in 1929. Also, in Praza das Praterías, which Ruth photographed, the ‘Espinosa houses’ still existed, but were demolished in 1939 and replaced by the controversial Bank of Spain. It is also curious to note how accessibility was better at that time, as the stairs to the arch leading to the Plaza de Afonso XII or to the Hospital, today Obradoiro, as seen in one of Ruth’s photographs, were not built until the 1950s, or those to the Praza dos Literarios, today Quintana.. At the time, the Toural fountain was also crowned by a statue of Mars. Legend has it that it resembled a liberal general, so it was replaced in 1948 by a kind of amphora.
It would be very surprising for Ruth to return to Compostela in 1928 and not find the fountain that was there in Mazarelos. In its place, they put the statue of Montero Ríos that spent twelve years in the middle of Praza do Obradoiro. And where is the fountain? It is the one that is currently in Praza de San Roque. There are many differences that we could highlight, such as the disappearance of the Church of Trindade or more practical issues, such the style of the carriages that Ruth captures around Alameda. It is striking today that there was a bullring, and even more so that Ruth portrayed its use to play football, a relatively new sport at the time. Outside the city centre, which has also changed so much, Ruth took photographs such as the one of a ‘Hut to the tax collector of food coming to the city‘, one of the laundresses or another that she describes as ‘Sunday afternoon games in the outskirts’. One more picture: Praza de Galicia. Where the Hotel Compostela stands today, in 1924 was the Royalty Theatre and, opposite, the Quiqui Bar, the future Castromil building for buses, which opened in 1926, is under construction.
Hotel, theatre, bar… These words contrast with the Galicia portrayed by Ruth, but they serve to visualise a city and a country in full transformation. She witnesses the imbalance between modernisation and the inertia of agrarian society and caciquism, which Primo de Rivera at the beginning of the dictatorship wants to combat. What is not so noticeable in Ruth’s work is the technological innovation that is being put to use in the countryside but, let’s remember, the Hispanic is interested in documenting traditional ways of life, and not, for example, the Pontevedra Agricultural Mission. Nor does it reflect the impact of emigration or the emerging cultural and sporting life. Despite those absences, Ruth’s work conveys, with respect and dignity, that moment of transition in our society.
Let’s go now to the next stop on Rúa de Entrecercas.