Artwork
Ruins, Machu Picchu
Artist
Martín Chambi
(Peruvian, 1891 - 1973)
DepartmentLatin American Art
Date1940s
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions8 x 6 1/2 in. (20.3 x 16.5 cm)
Credit LineSan Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds from the Mary Kathryn Lynch Kurtz Fund for the Acquisition of Modern Latin American Art
Object number2016.7
GeographyTopographic representationPeru
General regionSouth America
Label TextLight cascades across stone stairs in this image of Machu Picchu. The close look suggests an intimacy between photographer and subject. Martín Chambi photographed Machu Picchu many times, beginning in 1917. He lived in Cuzco and worked as a commercial portraitist, photojournalist, and documentary photographer and became one of the first Indigenous Latin American photographers to gain international recognition. His images of the Andean landscape, its people, and its archaeological sites reflect Peru’s Indigenista movement, which sought to establish a national identity rooted in regional Indigenous culture.
(Lana Meador, 2020)
La luz corre como una cascada por las escaleras de piedra en esta imagen de Machu Picchu. La mirada cercana sugiere una intimidad entre el fotógrafo y el sujeto. Martín Chambi fotografió Machu Picchu varias veces, comenzando en 1917. Vivió en Cusco y trabajó de retratista comercial, fotoperiodista y fotógrafo documental, y se convirtió en uno de los primeros fotógrafos indígenas de Latinoamérica en obtener reconocimiento internacional. Sus imágenes del paisaje andino, su gente y sus sitios arqueológicos reflejan los principios del movimiento indigenista de Perú, que buscaba establecer una identidad nacional arraigada en la cultura indígena regional.
(Lana Meador, 2020)Not on view
Collections
Andrea Nungarrayi Martin
Culture: Aboriginal Australians (Warlpiri/Anmatyerre language group)
1997
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
