AMBAR, on its 125th anniversary, chooses to celebrate its long-time companion and home: the bar. To this end, it presents the work of David Salcedo, who crafts this tribute by combining photographic talent with a subtlety that can only come from a deep affection for something truly lived.

The bar in this exhibition could be any bar in Spain—whether in a small town, a neighborhood, or by the roadside. A bar that doesn’t have it easy either. It’s the bar where people play cards and lean back in their chairs with cards in hand, asking for the TV volume to be turned up. It’s the place for a quick coffee at the counter in the middle of a workday, or for retired friends to gather over their Wednesday croissant. These are the bars where kids in the village climb onto stools to ask for a bag of chips, or where four of them test the bartender’s patience deciding between an ice cream cone or a popsicle.

Through the images in the exhibition, David Salcedo manages to make you hear the rustle of the tablecloth the waiter adjusts before slamming down the menu like a shield. His photographic work reminds us of the importance and necessity of these spaces where we meet, talk, or simply spend time together.