Rafael Sanz Lobato received Spain's Premio Nacional de Fotografia in 2011, shortly before his 80th birthday. His work is widely praised (by the Spanish) for its
austeridad, a term that seems both accurate and inaccurate. The compositions of Sanz Lobato do, it's true, tend to find themselves stripped to essentials, yet at the same time they radiate a warmth that I cannot associate with austerity.
