Cultural Photographs by Martn Chambi - Essay Example

Cultural Photographs by Martín Chambi Introduction and Photographers Background Martin Chambi was born in Puno located along the shores of Lake Titicaca, to a family of native Quechua peasants, he is celebrated world over in the artistic circle for his commercial photography work must which are taken in or around the Andean countryside near Cuzco, the ancient capital.1 He is most popular for his ethnophraphic and landscapes which were particularly popular among tourists as they were considered very expressive of the diverse topography and rich cultural heritage of the Peruvian peoples. His photographic technic was characterized by heavy borrowing from both European and pictorial styles from his era, with time his work gradually drew the attention of local and international critics. His uniqueness is underlined by the empathy and insight with which he took his photos especially when the subjects were native people or/and scenery. His ability to render such emotion into his work was instrumental in shaping his career as he was able, more than any other artist of his time to establish a rapt with the subject. His affinity for culture was one of the main motivations for his taking part in the indigenista movement that had taken root in Cuzco. The movement was dedicated to the affirmation of the rich traditions of the indigenous culture and it constantly tried to create a way through which the tension between the ex post facto and modern culture that characterized his society at the dawn of the 20th century most of which was caused by western incursion. This paper will examine three of his art works and attempt to describe and discuss the overlying and underlying issue and conflicts within as a means to validate his artistic presence between the retrospective cultures his contemporary cultural social setting. The first photograph captures a Quechan of a man sitting in the Peruvian wilderness playing a flute. Behind him is an Ilama with a rope tied around its neck with the other end being held by the man on the lap. The environment and the nature of the mans and animals existence appears quite Spartan given that he is sitting on bare ground where a few tufts of grass are growing but there is otherwise no other vegetation. The place is quite rocky and looks barren, it’s probably not good for anything other than grazing .In the background, the skyline is filled by a series of mountains and ranges with a thin sheet of snow. This is juxtaposed against the sunny and dry centrepiece of the photograph. Taking to account that the picture is categorized under cultural art, it would be artistically irresponsible not to take to account the cultural-centric elements which are numerous both in the covert and overt sense. The most immediate cultural constituent is a musical one which can be deduced from the fact that the subject is playing a flute. It is apparent that this of paramount importance to him as he is so engrossed in the act that he appears oblivious to the rest of the world. In a sense one could imagine that the Quechan man is playing to the llama although he could just as well be playing to himself oblivious to it as he was everything else. Chambi has been described as an artist who captured the whole story in a single shot, furthermore, as aforementioned; his primary interest in photography was to present his native people in their indigenous glory and authenticity to the world. This photograph remarkably successful in that respect, he depicts the musical heritage in the flute which is a pure and atheist Peruvian instrument and which has been making music in those mountains and plains for hundreds of years. The dress of the man is rough and Spartan although its appears to be western style ;this picture might as well have been taken in the decades before Chambis people had ever come to contact with the white people who radically changed their way of life and culture. In fact the only element of the picture that appears to be in contradiction with the indigenous feel and purity the photographer was so intent on embodying is the clothing. Even then the tribesman does not look particularly westernized and since his clothing is so worn and acclimatized to his rough surroundings that it appears they have adapted to his surrounding and become more or less as much a part of his tribal identity as the flute. The llama in the background engenders the deep seated cultural and economic connection between the Peruvian people and these animals. They play a major part in the lives of the natives and in the past, Peruvian children were often entrusted with a llama which they would raise for its wool. llamas are constant companions for the people there are probably no better way to authenticate the picture than include the llama which is inextricably a part of the Peruvian social fabric. This connection is underpinned in physical sense by the fact that the animal and that man are connect with the rope which rests casually between them. It does not appear to be so much a means of restrain but can be metaphorically described as an umbilical cord that serves demonstrates the deep seated connections between the man and the beast. The second photograph is an indoors close up shot of six Quechua Indians in what appears to be an office waiting room or restaurant, it is difficult to establish since the picture has focused almost entirely on the human subjects. It is this picture was posed as the subjects are all keenly looking into the camera, on the far right there are three people who apparently were not supposed to be part of the picture since they are neither posing nor do they appear to be interested in the whole photography business, and these men are white. The most overt cultural element that one deduces from this picture is the dress, the 5 Indians are dressed in a combination of traditional Quenchua and Spanish dress; this diversity in fashion stems from the influence of the Spanish who had for many years occupied the Indians land there was a great deal of borrowing.2 The men sitting at the front row are all wearing ponchos, these are an integral element or the Peruvian traditional dress and nearly every boy or man has or wears one. The picture looks rather dull as a result of the bland colours; however it is worth noting that had it been a colour photo, it would have reflected the resplendence of the colours that conventionally adorned traditional dress. The men are in dark woollen pants which are the normal clothing for the older generation; they are all barefoot which can be viewed as a contradiction in their dress code. They appear to be traditional Peruvians trying to fit in to a western scenario, the photography session, one would have expected they would wear shoes given that they seem to be in their best clothes. This can be explained by the fact that they are either not used to wearing shoes in the first place they probably removed them on entry to the premises. Chambi has clearly depicted the contrast between the natives and the whites who although appearing to be in the picture by accident actually look more at home in it than the intended subjects. This can be read as subtext to the post-colonial discourse that underlies the artist’s work which was characterized by various attempts to prove that his people can be just as cultured as the white man. An objective reading of the picture will show a group of dignified indigenous people posing for a picture back grounded by relaxed and somewhat superior looking white men. This is indicative of the fact that during the period in which the picture was taken, the Peruvian society being forced to accept and admit foreigners with whom they shared culture as a matter of course but in whose presence neither could be at ease. In juxtaposing the westerners and natives in a western context not the artist does not only manage to bring out the underlying inequalities but also expresses the cultural authenticity of a people struggling to maintain their traditional lifestyle even in the face of western influences. Nevertheless, that they were not in shoes could have been used metaphorically by the artist to represent a connection to the earth and the natural environment, in the previous picture, the subject playing a flute was also barefoot, it is possible that the absence of shoes could have a covert or even unintended result of portraying the natives as being directly grounded to their land.  The third photograph is an illustration of one man dressed in relatively western style dress standing in front of a high rock in the middle of what appears to be some of the ruins of retrospective Inca cities. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that the Inca are today revered as having being a great and historically relevant civilization, there exist a strange dichotomy between the treatment of the surviving descendants of the race and their forbears. In a way, the ruins upon which the man stands are more representative of the condition of the living Quenchua today, they have for years been treated as outsiders in their own land with their culture a language largely being ignored. The specific location of the picture is the Ruins of the Machu Pinchu which is theorized by archeologists to have been the city of the Inca emperor Pachacuti. The old city is very significant to the culture of the people because it was also believed to be the birth place of the “virgins of the sun”.3 By picturing the city in its current condition, Chambi appears to be appealing to the viewer to see the destroyed and defiled edifice that was at one point the pride of his native people. This was one of the reasons why Chambi was so passionate about photographing the Quenchua as well as the physical environment in which they exist today. The man standing over the ruins is a native Quechan but he unlike the rest of the subjects in the last two pictures, the man appear fully westernized and this is especially evident in his big western style boots. The place on which he is standing is overgrown with grass and the ruins are sharply juxtaposed with his sharp dressing, although to a modern viewer there is nothing particularly smart about this gentleman, that the picture was taken in 1943 should account for the disparity in fashion appreciation across the decades. The Inca civilization which stood proud and dignified 600 years today lies in ruins and the culture and traditions of the people are gradually being phased out by westernization.4 The ruins are symbolic of this unfortunate metamorphosis, a result of which the only surviving Inca infrastructure and culture seems to be of more interest to the government only for tourism purposes as opposed to its own sake. Ultimately, the photograph serves as a stark reminded of the bleakness of the Inca past as well as the engenderment of the current downtrodden situation of the native people in contemporary times. Conclusion In conclusion, there is no doubt that the images created by Chambi were not only authentic in the sense that they are based on a Peruvian landscape; but because they were done by a local person who knew he culture extremely well and understood how to render it into both authentic and aesthetic work. One cannot help to appreciate the not only the beauty of the individual images but also the ethnographic interest it generates based on the fact that it brings to life a supposedly dead lost culture which he made his life’s work to reclaim. The pictures studied herein make it abundantly clear that the culture of the Inca can still stand out even amidst social-political changes that have impacted on it and he achieves this by depiction of the conflicting issues between the west and his homeland. Bibliography Bingham, Hiram. Inca Land: explorations in the highlands of Peru. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. 1922. Cox, Ilene. "Cuzco, the Ancient Capital of the Inca Empire." Redlands Daily Facts, Aug 29, 2004. Herrera, Museo and Berrin, Kathleen. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1997. Miller, Amy. The Inca Empire of the Sun. Junior Scholastic, Sep 06, 1999. Read More