Viewpoints: Latin America in Photographs
Viewpoints: Latin America in Photographs exhibits 104 images taken in Latin America from the 1860s through the present by photographers who have traveled to Latin America and by those who are native to the region. On view from March 24 through June 28 in the Library’s Print and Stokes Galleries and organized by Elizabeth Cronin, Assistant Curator of Photography, the exhibition shows the breadth of Wallach Division's rich and immense Photography Collection. Countries represented in the show include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
Viewpointsopens with two large-scale panoramas by emigré photographers who settled in Latin America: an 1855 view of Valparaíso and a seven-foot panorama of Buenos Aires from 1879. Following are works from the Peruvian studio Courret Hermanos and the Argentine Esteban Gonnet. Cartes-de-visites of “types of women” found in Lima are included along with early views of the cities. Additional photographs by the Mexican photographer Abel Briquet and the Chilean Hans Frey conclude this section.
On the opposing wall, photographs show the varied interests and motives of foreign expeditionary photographers. Désiré Charnay’s and Alfred Percival Maudslay’s photographs document the Mayan ruins, while rare views by the French captain Louis Edouard Roussel show the Zócalo in Mexico City and the destruction incurred during the 1863 siege of Puebla. Ending the section are Dana B. Merrill’s extraordinary views of the Estrada de Ferro Madeira e Mamoré railway project that ploughed through the dense Amazon rainforest despite immense hardships.
The second half of the exhibition presents works from the 20th and 21st centuries; the works evidence artistic ambition and mastery. Julio de la Fuente, a former art student, used photography to document the indigenous and lauded by American photographer Paul Strand who exhibited them at the New School in New York in 1938. Photographs by Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Héctor García, Graciela Iturbide, Mariana Yampolsky, and Flor Garduño show the artistic strength of Mexican photography. The most contemporary pieces shown are by Sze Tschung-Leong and Luis Gonzalez Palma.
American photographers traveled south for a variety of reasons; often on assignment or in search of artistic inspiration. Paul Strand’s photogravures of Mexico are shown alongside Walker Evan’s photographs of Cuba and Margaret Bourke-White’s views of Brazil while photographs by Edward Grazda, Ann Parker and John Cohen explore cultural practices among indigenous populations. This section concludes with Edward Ranney’s views of the Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert.
“The geography, people, and rich culture of Latin America have long inspired photographers to capture visually their experiences and impressions. Their photographs, in turn, entice viewers to marvel at that which is foreign or to reminisce about the familiar,” said Cronin. “With Viewpoints our main hope is to interest the public, researchers, and scholars in the amazing and unique material we have related to Latin America.”
Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, and Jonathan Altman.
Contact: Sara Beth Joren | sarabethjoren@nypl.org
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