The hard and variegated work carried out by the team managing the Museo Reina Sofía’s photographic Archive often goes unnoticed, but has in fact played a key role in shaping the institution’s history. More than simply photographing works that enter and leave the Museo, in conjunction with exhibitions and loans, and visually recording works in the Collection, they also capture official events and public activities. Moreover, they have photographed the different spaces and galleries inside the Museo, images that reflect the changes and structural overhauls that have taken place over the years.

In this interview, the Archive managers, Joaquín Cortes and Román Lores, offer some insight into their work and experience as photographers in the institution, shining a light on their beginnings inside the Museo and also how the move from analogue reproduction to digital came about, the issues involved in archiving the past and present of photographs, and the responsibility they feel in their work contributing to the conservation, dissemination and restoration of artworks.