The history of photography from Latin America has always lagged behind that of the rest of the world, leaving a gap in our understanding of the continent's fascinating recent history. Now an important exhibition by Earthwatch researchers for Portrait of Bolivia offers the first and finest photographic examples of the life, customs, and the rich cultural heritage of this country from 1910 to 1940.
The exhibition titled "Julio Cordero Castillo, The Cordero Archive," is part of the Houston's Fotofest 2002, one of the largest celebrations of photographic art in the world. The show, up for the month of March, consists of 90 prints made from glass negatives in the Julio Cordero archive, which Earthwatch teams scanned in the field last summer.
"This is the first time this work has ever been shown outside of La Paz," said Michele Penhall (University of New Mexico). Penhall led Portrait of Bolivia with Adelma Benavente García (Audio Visual Inka) and Peter Yenne (The Photographic Archive Project). "We can now look at this work in relation to that of other Latin American and even European and North American countries and begin to compare it to see how it is different, how it is similar. This is a huge step in beginning to understand life in this country."
The images in the Houston exhibition range from portraits of dignitaries, clerics, magicians, boy scouts, and girls groups to photographs of festivals and dancers, mining operations, the altiplano landscape, military parades, and one public execution. The photos are digital prints on archival paper using archival inks, a new technology being pioneered by this project, made from the scans Earthwatch teams did in La Paz.
"None of this could have been done without Earthwatch volunteers," said Penhall. "They are the ones who cleaned, catalogued, and scanned all of the glass plate negatives from which Peter has made the final digital prints. Their contribution is invaluable."
The show is up at One Allen Center Art Gallery from March 1 to April 1, with an opening on March 14. The principal investigators will be there for the opening, along with the Corderos, the family that has maintained this valuable archive.
Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization which supports scientific field research worldwide by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. The Institute's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.