events, and trends in each country must be more
widely known.
Argentina
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alejan-
dro Witcomb’s (1835–1905) studio was the most
prestigious in Buenos Aires. Witcomb also dis-
patched a cadre of photographers to record various
aspects of the country. Although South American
photographers were producing historically valu-
able and aesthetically sound images, in Argentina
as in other countries, their work was refused admis-
sion to mainstream art circles. The international
movement Pictorialism, with its soft focus and
mimicking of established painting styles, remained
the standard into the 1930s. When the Sociedad
Estimulo de Bellas Artes organized the first photo
competition in 1927, not surprisingly all the judges
were artists. The cause of photography as fine art
was promoted by camera clubs. Members of the La
Sociedad Fotogra ́fica de Argentina de Aficionados
(1889–1926) contributed documentary work of
‘‘types.’’ Other clubs included the Federacio ́n Ar-
gentina de Fotografı ́a (1948) and the Foto Club
Buenos Aires, founded in 1923 by photographer
Jorge Pico. Journalistic and photographic period-
icals that pioneered the use of photography
included:Caras y Caretas (1898–1939),Sintonı ́a
(1920),Foto Revista(1920),El Correo Fotogra ́fico
Sudamericano(1921–), which now serves as the
national photography record,El Rombo (1939),
andClick(1940).
There are several motable early twentieth-century
photographers. Fernando Paillet (1880–1967), the
first ‘‘humanist’’ photographer in Argentina, is re-
membered for a series of workplace interiors taken
in 1922 Juan di Sandor (1898–1986), the ‘‘dean’’ of
photojournalists, is famous for his images of Buenos
Aires and the Graf Zeppelin, sailing over the city.
German-born Grete Stern (1904–1999) immigrated
to Argentina in the 1930s, bringing avante-garde
concepts from the Bauhaus school in Berlin. She is
known for her portraits of artists and intellectuals,
collage advertising photos, use of natural light, and
lack of retouching. She also documented Argentine
cities and regions (Gran Chaco). Horacio Coppola
(1906–), influenced by Le Corbusier and the Bau-
haus,marriedGreteSternandimmigratedtoArgen-
tina. He excelled at portrait photography and is
noted for his images of 1930s and 1940s Buenos
Aires. Later, he experimented with static shapes and
color abstractions. Annemarie Heinrich (1912–)
opened her first studio at age 18. She is highly re-
spected for her studio technique and use of lighting,
and for her portraits of show business people and her
images of the ballet in Argentina. Her work also
includes montage, experimental nudes, landscape,
and fashion photography. The influence of Stern,
Heinrich, and Coppola was significant. Photogra-
pher, critic, and publisher Sara Facio noted that up
until 1960, the three were considered ‘‘the paradigms
of Argentine photography.’’ But in the wake of po-
litical repression between 1966 and 1984, there was,
according to Facio, a ‘‘growing need for social testi-
mony of a humanistic tendency.’’ The generation of
photographers representing that period include Aldo
Sessa, Andy Goldstein, Sara Facio, Alicia D’Amico,
and Adriana Lestido. Memorable images of ‘‘Los
Desaparecidos’’ (The Disappeared) and ‘‘Las Mad-
res de La Plaza’’ (Mothers of the Plaza) were made by
photographers like Carlos Bosch, Roberto Pera, and
Alejandro Cherep. Radical publications during this
period included Noticiasand El Descamisado.In
1942, Julio Riobo ́organized the first photographic
exhibit in the country. In 1973, Sara Facio, Alicia
D’Amico, and Marı ́a Cristina Orive founded La
Azotea, the first publishing house solely dedicated
to publishing Latin American photography. Recent
major photography exhibitions include Myths,
Dreams and Realities in Contemporary Argentine
Photographyat the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
(1999)and Mirando al Sur: Fotografia Argentina al
Fin del Milenio(1999). Photographers active in the
latter decades of the twentieth century include
Eduardo Gil, Marcelo Brodsky, and Marcos Lo ́pez.Bolivia
According to researcher and Bolivia postcard
expert Daniel Buck, major surveys of Latin Amer-
ican photography have ignored Bolivia. Buck notes
that little has been written about the topic, and
research is often dependent on the photographs
themselves, which are scattered in family collec-
tions, museums, and libraries in Bolivia and other
countries. Some recovery work has been done by
Pacen ̃o historian Gaston Dick, who publishedLa
Paz de Ayer y HoyandPotosi de Ayer. Buck sug-
gests the following as important Bolivian pho-
tographers of the twentieth century: Julio Cordero
Castillo (1879–1961), who was both a photogra-
pher and cinematographer; and Victor Crespo,
whose images were widely distributed on postcards.
In 1973, photographer Rolando Costa Ardu ́z pub-
lishedLa Paz: Sus Rostros en el Tiempo, using the
images in the Cordero family archive. The Italian
immigrant Luis Gismondi, worked in La Paz andSOUTH AMERICA, PHOTOGRAPHY IN