Voces del Prado

Manuel Olivares: Roving Photographer

Carlos Manso Manso, General Operations Service Technician (Photographer), 1953-1999

In those days there were roving photographers who worked at the entrances to many tourist sights. So a man was standing in the street talking photos. He had a large camera, over which he draped the typical black cloth. And a stand that must have been made out of cardboard. Tourists in those days didn’t have photographic cameras. People liked to have a souvenir of the Museum entrance and would say: “Here! Could you please take a photo of us?”. Then they would be sent the photo by mail. And that photographer was very good, and he had a whole team who worked with him. That’s how my father met him and later hired him to work at the Museum. Manuel Olivares was the father of my colleague, Manolo. He was with us for many years. And when he died, my colleague, Olivares, joined the Museum.