Tony Lara's 'Passos Previs' Captures Andorra's Hidden Good Friday Prep

Photographer Tony Lara has unveiled *Passos previs*, a deeply personal project capturing the behind-the-scenes preparations for Andorra's Good Friday processions over a decade.

The idea struck Lara one spring afternoon more than ten years ago, while pushing his young son Quim's stroller. He spotted locals dusting off the life-sized religious sculptures, or *passos*, ahead of the Easter procession—a sight that sparked his professional instinct. "This has a photo," he thought. What began as a single image evolved into around 4,000 shots taken across ten Easters. Lara culled them down to 134 for the book and accompanying exhibition.

As a photojournalist familiar with the public procession from childhood—"I covered it with the usual four photos"—Lara was drawn to its hidden side. He found brotherhood members in everyday clothes, feather dusters in hand, chatting and laughing in broad daylight. "It was a spectacle, the unknown part of something we all know," he said. Returning with his camera, he sought permission to document their work, starting early one morning as they retrieved the *passos* from the seminary.

Each visit revealed more: sculptures shrouded in plastic sheeting, evoking expressionist paintings; brothers peering from outside the Oriente brotherhood in a nod to costumbrismo; moments of neorealist grit, humour, and irony. The images maintain a coherent thread despite their variety, with no digital manipulation. In an era of AI-generated visuals, Lara champions this handmade record of real life for posterity.

The brotherhoods welcomed him, though some initially questioned the appeal and offered to pose in full regalia—something he declined. They grew accustomed to his lens in tight spaces like the Armats brotherhood's cramped, meticulously organised storeroom. "Everyone tells the same story, but it's important each does it their own way," Lara reflected. His journalistic access yielded unique perspectives unavailable to casual observers.

The project includes historical context by Carles Gascón and a foreword by fellow photographer Tino Soriano, whose endorsement Lara called a major honour. The exhibition opens Thursday at 7pm at Centre Cívic El Passeig and runs until 11 April.