Self-portrait holding plate

Early in the twentieth century there was singular phenomenon in the main provincial cities of Peru, particularly in those located in the southern highlands. Even if by omission of painting and sculpture, various circumstances permitted photography to fully take over the artistic field in the small provincial capitals. Hand in hand with international Pictorialism, the photographic studio became an art gallery, and the photographer an influential visual creator in the public sphere. That is what is projected in the spirit of reflection of the self-portrait of Puno-born Martín Chambi, who was trained as an apprentice at the great photographic studio of Max Vargas in Arequipa. In the photograph, Chambi contemplates the plate of his own self-portrait, an image that enacts his identity as a photographer, and in doing so, his personality as an intellectual creator. (NM)