In 1963, Catany settled in Barcelona, city that turned into his habitual residence. Self-taught, he began to work as a freelance artist in 1966 creating travel features, a task he dedicated himself to for a brief time before finally turning to artistic photography. In 1976, Catany began to work on portraits, nudes, still lifes and landscapes, working in the traditional calotype technique and later on, with transported Polaroids, always on the basis of subjectivity and his experiences. National and international recognition arrived in 1979 with series of still lifes in colour and in black and white.
He published numerous books and catalogues, such as Natures Mortes, with which won the award for the best Photographic Book (Llibre Fotogràfic) at the Primavera Fotogràfica de Catalunya festival (1988). His work has been displayed at Palau Solleric (Palma de Mallorca, 1991), the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid,1997), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires, 1998) and the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Barcelona, 2000) as well as the Fundación Telefónica (Madrid, 2003).
He won the following awards: the Premio Primavera Fotogràfica (1990), the European Publishers Award (1997), the Premi Nacional de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2000), and Premio Nacional de Fotografía awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2001). In 1990, the French Government made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
His work can be found in the collections of museums and institutions such as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), Musée d’art moderne de Paris, Musée Nicéphore Niépce (Chalonsur-Saône, France), Università di Parma, International Polaroid Collection (USA), Museu de Mallorca (Palma de Mallorca),Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma and the Fundació Foto Colectania (Barcelona), among others.
E.B.
