The Plenty of Planas

Three million windows into history.  That’s the estimate for the number of visual records within the walls of Casa Planas, the astonishing photographic archive of Mallorca’s social history from the 1950 to the 2010’s.  On a guided tour May 20, fifteen ASM members viewed photographs, negatives and postcards produced by the company founded by Josep Planas i Montanyà in 1940.  They comprise an eye-opening history of social and political life and physical changes in Mallorca from the Franco years to the maturation of the island's tourism-based economy.  As the major photography company on Mallorca for many years, the collection includes portraits, photos of major family and public events, and comparative pictures of locales before and after commercial development.   Planas even pioneered some of the islands’ first aerial photography with a helicopter that was sometimes borrowed by the local police – who could not afford their own at the time.

Sr. Planas’ company is now a foundation led by his granddaughter, Marina Planas. Archivist and researcher Inés gave an overview of the collections and discussed the environmental and financial challenges confronting preservation of the foundation’s archives.  More information about the foundation is available at https://casaplanas.org or from Begoña Máquez, the coordinator of research residencies at residencias@casaplanas.org.