PERUVIAN QUECHUA PHOTOGRAPHER MARTIN CHAMBI DIED
Born November 5, 1891, to a Quechua family, Chambi discovered photography while traveling with his father who worked in a Carabaya Province gold mine. In 1908, in Arequipa, he apprenticed in the studio of Max T. Vargas. He started his own studio in Sicuani in 1917 before settling in Cuzco. Chambi specialized in photographing the Andes’ landscapes, including Macchu-Picchu, as well as indigenous people. While he was honored with an exposition in Mexico in 1964, his work gained notoriety after his death particularly after a 1976 documentary film, El arte fotográfico de Martín Chambi, by José Carlos Huayhuaca. The next year brought cataloguing and restoring of his archives. Other recognition: A retrospective exposition in New York City (1979); a Latin American photography exhibit in Zurich (1981); the 1986 film, Martin Chambi and The Heirs of the Incas, distributed by BBC Arena; and a 1990 exposition at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
Source: “Martin Chiambi,” PeoplePill. Retrieved 7/10/2020, https://peoplepill.com/people/martin-chambi/ Photo: Hiram Bingham III, 1913. Public Domain. Source: National Geographic, April 1913: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/1913/04/machu-picchu/img/14-corner-of-cave-machu-714.jpg.
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