Andorra's First Documented Photo Taken by Medical Student in 1884

On 15 April 1884, Joaquim de Riba Camarlot, a medical student from Ordino, took Andorra's first documented photograph. Studying at the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Medicine from 1879 to 1886, he borrowed a camera from a friend—who likely posed as the subject—and captured the image on the spot.

Born on 24 March 1856 in Ordino to the Rossell family, Riba Camarlot later settled in Alcover in Catalonia's Alt Camp region in 1890, serving as its municipal doctor from 1892. He returned to Ordino in 1920 and died there five years later. The pivotal moment came during his student years, preserved through a letter he sent his mother, Dolors Camarlot, now held in the Casa Rossell archives.

"Dear Mum," he wrote, "a friend provided me with a camera that I have tried out and although not very well I managed to take the portrait of Ventureta Solares and mine. I enclose them. Next Sunday I will try to correct the defects they have; I wanted to give you a surprise but I couldn't wait any longer." The note captures his excitement, self-criticism of the images' flaws, and eagerness to refine his work.

This encounter sparked a lifelong passion that Riba Camarlot pursued for 41 years, producing 702 negatives across diverse formats and subjects. Early efforts focused on costumbrista scenes from his surroundings in Alt Camp, Baix Camp, Baix Penedès, Priorat, Tarragonès, and Ordino—capturing late 19th- and early 20th-century daily life, family visits, and hunting scenes with dogs and horses. Portraits soon dominated, including on-site shots of rural workers, carefully composed studio-style images, family members, and even a self-portrait where he held a pneumatic shutter release.

Despite technical constraints of the era—like wet collodion plates, stereoscopic negatives and positives, autochromes, and gelatin dry plates—his work demonstrated mastery of photographic processes and laboratory techniques. He passed the interest to his nephew, Joaquim de Riba Cassany.

The story features in the exhibition *Pioners 1884-1954: l’Andorra dels primers fotògrafs* at the government's Sala d’Exposicions, running until 7 March 2026, alongside the letter and other Rossell family documents.