Eighty-eight images by Peruvian photographer Martin Chambi (1891-1973) have been added to the archives of the famous Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS) in Brazil. It gives the public an opportunity to discover one of the first major, indigenous Latin American photographers. Face Andina features nearly 90 photographs and 23 postcards of studio portraits and the urban and rural landscapes of Cuzco, Arequipa and Puno.
Chambi was born in the South, near Puno and the famous Lake Titicaca. He started taking pictures when he was young, becoming the assistant of Max T. Vargan before setting up his own studio in Sicuani, devoting himself to the native population, specifically the Quéchua and Aymará. A native himself, Chambi quickly distanced himself from the “exotic” approach of other photographers and concentrated on the humility of life in the Andes, becoming a symbol of this diverse, multicultural nation. He traveled frequently in the Andes, photographing the Inca ruins—he was one of the first to photograph the sacred city of Machu Picchu when it was discovered in 1911—capturing the local faces and the desolate landscapes of the mountain chain.
“Martin Chambi was one of the first photographers of native blood to photographs his own people with dignity, always with excellent technique, an exceptional vision and a masterful control of light,” says his grandson Teo Allain Chambi, founder of the Martin Chambi archives in Cuzco.
Many of the photographs remained unknown until his death in 1973. A few years later, his children, Victor and Julia Chambi, with the help of the American anthropological photographer Edward Ranney, gathered nearly 14,000 glass plates for a major exhibition at the MoMA in New York.
Another exhibition at the IMS explores the photographs of the Brazilian designer, painter and photographer Geraldo de Barros (1923-1998). Featuring over 300 works, the show will run through February 22nd, examining the historical aspects and experimental nature of Barros’s photographs shot between 1940 and 1990, and their relationship to engraving and painting. The exhibition is divided into three parts, with the series Fotoformas, with paintings inspired by advertisements, and Sobras, which uses 35mm negatives.
EXHIBITION
Face andina, Martín Chambi
Jusqu’au 22 février 2015
Instituto Moreira Salles – São Paulo
Rua Piauí, 844, 1º andar, Higienópolis
Du mardi au vendredi de 13h à 19h
Samedi et dimanche de 13h à 18h
Entrée libre
Tel.: 0055 11 3825-2560
Geraldo de Barros e a fotografia
Jusqu’au 22 février 2015
Instituto Moreira Salles – Rio de Janeiro
Rua Marquês de São Vicente, 476, Gávea
Du mardi au dimanche de 11h à 20h
Entrée libre
Tel.: 0055 21 3284-7400
