Starting Out

An enthralling journey through the career of Cristobal Hara, who after more than half a century as a photographer returns to his origins. Bilingual English-Spanish edition.

An invitation to rediscover the freshness and sense of wonder with which the best photographs are born. An essential title for photography lovers as well as readers drawn to authentic and transformative life stories. Everyday Spanish life is shown through unexpected angles and fragmented perspectives reflecting the rituals, traditions and idiosyncrasies of Spanish society.

After more than five decades behind the camera, the author recalls a time when being a novice photographer was synonymous with freedom, risk and discovery. From his youthful decision to abandon the business world to devote himself to photography, through his years of learning on the streets under the dictatorship, to his first international collaborations, this book brings together the images that shaped his craft.

With previously unpublished images and personal stories, the author reveals how his vocation was born —inspired by Cartier-Bresson and forged on the streets of Francoist Spain— and how that spirit of experimentation has accompanied him through portraits, urban scenes, travels and unique projects. 

More than just a visual memoir, this work is an invitation to relive the thrill of adventure, the constant search for the unexpected, and the essence of photography as both art and life experience.