Chambi Collection

Chambi Collection - Classic documentation of Peruvian life developed between 1920 and 1973. "...Martin Chambi born in 1891, lived and worked in Cuzco from 1920 until his death in 1973. He practiced as a local and commercial portrait photographer. His studio was frequented by some of the most prominent members of Cuzco society. He photographed weddings, parties, dances, fiestas, but with such skill and perception that his work conveys, 'with unexpected intensity the structure and mood of a complex colonial society meeting the 20th century.'
Chambi was 'a contemporary historian, at least by instinct, and not solely a record maker.' He was as interested in the Inca past as he was in Peru's present and future. Photographs of the Indian life of the time occupy a large place in his output 'more by virtue of his alert consciousness of his environment than as a market response. He was among the earliest to have done real photographic justice to Macchu Picchu,' (probably the most spectacular Incan archaeological site)." See Also... Archivo Fotografico Martin Chambi.