tions, receiving financial support from the Instituto
Nacional de Belles Artes (National Institute of Fine
Arts). This activity led to the first of three colloquia
on Latin American photography.Primer Coloquio
Latinoamericano de Fotgrafiaheld in Mexico City
in 1978, which produced a traveling exhibition
titledHecho en Latinoame ́rica.The colloquia each
consisted of three days of presentations by guest
speakers, various workshops, and a coordinated
program of exhibitions with theHecho en Latinoa-
mericaexhibition as its centerpiece. Participation
was principally from convocation with little addi-
tional curatorial work. The conference inspired
representatives from many Latin American coun-
tries, including the Central American countries of
Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama,
and Puerto Rico, to found the short-lived Latin
American Council of Photography.
The second colloquium, in 1981, was also in
Mexico City. In a presentation at this colloquium,
U.S. critic Max Kozloff described a ‘‘distinctive
aura’’ to Latin American work, both from subject
matter and aesthetics. Giuliana Scime from Italy
heatedly pointed out that all such criteria could be
equally applied to European photography. The
program for these colloquia states the following
about how photography might contribute to
changes in Latin America: ‘‘By producing a photo-
graph whose most beautiful incarnation is fulfilled
by faithfully showing the face of a mestizo conti-
nent that is willing to attain justice for everyone—
this being the supreme creative feat.’’
TheColoquio Latinoamericano de Fotografia, the
third Hecho en Latinoamerica colloquium and
exhibition, was held in 1984 in Havana, Cuba. In
addition to the presentations and exhibitions simi-
lar to the previous colloquia, Hecho III sponsored
a Latin American and Caribbean photography
competition at Cuba’s Casa de las Americas. La
Casa de las Americas has sponsored various cul-
tural activities since its inception in 1959, but, at
Pedro Meyer’s suggestion, 1984 was the first year
photography was included in their activities.
Awards were given to Cuban photographers Raul
Corrales, Mario Garcia Joya, Rogelio Lopez
Marin, and Rigoberto Romero, as well as Puerto
Rican photographer Hector Mendez Caratina and
Pedro Valtierra from Mexico. The Third Latin
American Photography Colloquium was attended
by over 400 participants from Latin America, the
United States, and Europe. The Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro made a surprise visit and presentation
during the day’s events.
The Hecho colloquia received some criticism for
their structure and agenda. Argentinean photogra-
pher and publisher Sara Facio criticized the collo-
quia’s ‘‘exclusively leftist orientation,’’ especially
for the restrictive criteria for the photo competition
that required work to reflect the ‘‘contemporary
reality’’ in the region. This process selected works
that may or may not represent photography over-
all. Some photographers choose not to even submit.
Furthermore, residents of countries under the most
restrictive dictatorships were not able to submit at
all. In an effort to bring to the forefront of the
world’s attention the photographic activity of the
region, these colloquia proposed a basically socia-
listic, humanistic mode of photography, despite the
fact that many regional photographers chose not to
work this way. In promoting such work, the collo-
quia continued to support the deeply entrenched
notion that documentary photography is the nat-
ural expression for third-world countries.
TheHecho en Latinoamericacolloquia, however,
also received praise for some of their accomplish-
ments. They provided a new structure for Latin
American photographers to communicate. Prior
to these events, many regional photographers had
no structure to enable them to be in touch with or
even aware of each other’s work. Also, the events
united sufficient examples of quality work to end
the misconception that photography in Latin
America is in any way backward or limited. By
the third colloquium, there seemed to be a more
concentrated effort on the technical and aesthetic
preparation of the photographs themselves and
their presentation. Finally, these colloquia helped
solidify a desire for additional primary research on
Latin American photography. American photogra-
phy and professor at the University of Illinois,
Chicago, Esther Parada writes of the potential dan-
ger to hoping for social change via stereotyped
images of protest, but describes nonetheless a sig-
nificant public impact of theHechoexhibitions and
publications. Despite these criticisms and the fact
that most Latin American participants did not
come from Central American countries, these col-
loquia significantly raised regional and global
awareness and curiosity about the area, spurring
further research and activities both in Latin Amer-
ican countries and around the world.
The Zurich exhibition ofFotografia Lateinamer-
ika von 1860 bis hueteat the Zurich Kunsthaus in
1981 was curated by non-Latin American research-
ers. This work traveled widely in Europe with a
catalogue in German, eventually translated into
Spanish. This was the first comprehensive exhibi-
tion of Latin American photography, the result of
extensive curatorial work. Similar to the Hecho en
Latinoamerica colloquia, most photographers inCENTRAL AMERICA, PHOTOGRAPHY IN