IT HAPPENS VERY RARELY THAT A GREAT WORK IS OVERSHADOWED BY ITS AUTHOR. PETER LINDBERGH ACHIEVED IT WITH SUCH CHARM, ELEGANCE, AND EASE THAT IT SEEMED PERFECTLY NATURAL.

PETER WAS ABLE TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN EVERYONE AROUND HIM, MAKING EVERYONE FEEL SPECIAL IN THEIR OWN WAY: THAT WAS HIS PARTICULAR GIFT. HE SAW BEYOND FRILLS AND FLOURISHES. HE CARED NOTHING FOR SUPERFICIAL IMPERFECTIONS; HE LOOKED INTO THE DEPTHS OF PEOPLE.

THERE IS SOMETHING THAT MAKES PHOTOGRAPHY UNLIKE ANY OTHER ART FORM, AND THAT IS ITS ABILITY TO CAPTURE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PEOPLE IN AN INSTANT IN TIME. THE IMAGE DOES NOT NECESSARILY SHOW THE ENTIRE PERSONALITY OF THE SUBJECT, BUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S OWN PERSPECTIVE AT THE PRECISE MOMENT OF TAKING IT. GENIUS LIES IN THE CHOICE OF THAT MOMENT, AND PETER WAS A MASTER OF JUST THAT.

IN HIS CASE, EACH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS HE TOOK IS A REFLECTION OF HIS IDEAS, OF HIS COMMITMENT; THEY EMBODY STRENGTH AND FRAGILITY, THE MOST UNATTAINABLE DREAMS AND THE STARKEST OF REALITIES, BEAUTY AND REALISM AT THE SAME TIME, BUT, ABOVE ALL, THEY ARE CHARGED WITH FEELING, THEY DRINK FROM THE CRAFT AND PASSION OF AN ARTIST IN ALL ITS FULLNESS.

PETER WAS THE PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF HUMAN KINDNESS.

HE ALWAYS GAVE THE BEST OF HIMSELF. WORKING WITH ENERGY, COMMITMENT, AND ENTHUSIASM WAS THE ONLY WAY FOR HIM TO WORK. HE WAS ALWAYS TOTALLY IMMERSED IN WHATEVER HE WAS WORKING ON, TO THE EXCLUSION OF ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE.

NO MATTER THE SCORCHING HEAT OF ARLES THAT SUMMER I MET HIM. NO MATTER THAT HE HAD TO MANOEUVRE BETWEEN RELATIVES IN A CORUÑA, TAKING COUNTLESS PORTRAITS; ONE AFTER THE OTHER, SLOWLY, CAREFULLY.

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS WAS TAKEN WITH DEDICATION AND ENTHUSIASM.

NO MATTER THAT WE WERE PASSING THROUGH PARIS TO VISIT THE GIACOMETTI EXHIBITION. PETER ALWAYS MANAGED TO FIND TIME FROM SOMEWHERE. FOR HIM, EVERY MOMENT WAS MAGIC.

UNDOUBTEDLY, THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT PETER WAS THAT HE CONSISTENTLY MANAGED TO BRING OUT THE BEST VERSION OF WHOEVER STOOD IN FRONT OF HIS LENS. HE INVESTED EACH OF HIS SUBJECTS WITH AN ETERNAL AURA. HE SAW WHAT NO ONE ELSE COULD SEE, HE CREATED A STORY THAT WAS GENUINELY HIS OWN. AND IN DOING SO, HE MANAGED TO CAPTIVATE EXPERTS AND AMATEURS ALIKE. HE WAS BOTH A PHOTOGRAPHER'S PHOTOGRAPHER AND A HERO TO PHOTOGRAPHY LOVERS AROUND THE WORLD.

THERE ARE COUNTLESS PHOTOGRAPHS, BUT THERE ARE VERY FEW THAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND BECOME IMMEDIATELY RECOGNISABLE AS THE WORK OF THE ARTIST WHO CREATED THEM.

YOU CAN COUNT THEM ON THE FINGERS OF ONE HAND: HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON, HELMUT NEWTON, RICHARD AVEDON, OR IRVING PENN. PETER BELONGS, HANDS DOWN, TO THIS SUBLIME CLAN. HIS REPUTATION CONTINUES TO GROW WITH EACH PASSING YEAR. BEFORE I MET HIM, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADMIRE HIS WORK AS AN ARTIST, REGARDLESS OF ANY PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS.

HOWEVER, TO MY SURPRISE, EVEN MORE FASCINATING THAN HIS POWERFULLY POETIC IMAGES WAS GETTING TO KNOW HIM AND UNDERSTANDING WHERE ALL THAT MAGIC CAME FROM.

PETER WAS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HOW TRUE GENIUS HAS NO TIME FOR EXCESSIVE EGOS OR DIVA WHIMS.
HE SHOWED US THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO CREATE A GREAT WORK BY BEING SENSITIVE AND HUMBLE, THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO CAPTURE PROFOUND BEAUTY WITHOUT ORNAMENTATION OR DECEPTION, AND THUS ILLUMINATE A GENIUS TO WHICH WE HAPPILY SURRENDER AGAIN AND AGAIN.

FOR ME, THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD, THOUGH ALL UNIQUE IN THEIR ESSENCE, SOMETIMES DRAW FASCINATING PARALLELS.

PETER AND GALICIA HAVE, IN MY HEART, ENORMOUS SIMILARITIES... A WILD NATURE, NATURAL BEAUTY, A HUMAN WARMTH THAT INFECTS YOU WITH LIFE, AND AN UNPARALLELED HOSPITALITY.

I HAVE THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF JOINING THE TWO, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME IMMENSELY HAPPY.

I DO IT WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE THAT EVERYONE FROM A CORUÑA, GALICIA, SPAIN, AND ANYONE WHO COMES TO THIS WONDERFUL REGION CAN FREELY ENJOY AND APPRECIATE THIS EXQUISITE EXHIBITION THAT PETER PREPARED DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL BEFORE LEAVING US. I HOPE - I FIRMLY BELIEVE - IT WILL BE THE STARTING POINT FOR MANY WHO, ONCE THEY ENTER PETER'S WORLD, WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPHS AND WILL TRY TO GET TO KNOW HIM IN GREATER DEPTH. HERE HIS JOURNEY BEGINS.

THE SUN SHONE FOR PETER, AS IT SHOULD, WHEN HE CAME TO VISIT US IN 2018. HE TOOK A PIECE OF THIS LAND IN HIS HEART. I HOPE, NOW, HERE, THAT ALL OUR HEARTS WILL BE FILLED WITH HIM.

A SOUL LIKE HIS DESERVES NOTHING LESS. THIS EXHIBITION GOES TO GALICIA, TO PETER, AND TO A WORLD THAT NEEDS TO LEARN THE LESSONS OF KINDNESS AND TOLERANCE THAT HE EMBODIED AND THAT HIS WORK OFFERS US WHENEVER WE APPROACH IT.