[Untitled]

Two figures

This image depicts two figures in a photographic studio setting. There is a lighter backdrop extending from the top of the composition along the edge of the right side. The figure on the right is sitting in front of a mirror and looking through it directly into the camera. The mirror has trim and the corners are curved at the top but square at the bottom. The figure on the left is standing on the left side of the mirror and looking down at the figure on the ground. Their left hand is resting on the back side of the top of the mirror. They are wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a poncho overtop. They wear light pants with boots. On the floor, there is a hat behind the figure on the left and in between the figures. Under the hats are folded garments with striped patterns. The background is dark and the floor is light-colored tile with dark circular shapes in a gridded pattern. For the Andean people, the production of textiles, ceramics, metalwork, and architecture was an important part of the culture and of their respond to the natural environment. An example of this is clothing which was made to differentiated status and as well as to adorn sacred religious spaces. I believe that Villabla is showing the self-awareness of the subject by having them look directly into the camera. The figure is aware of themselves in the mirror, they are aware of their surroundings, the camera, and also of the viewer.


Ricardo Villalba was a Latin American photographer from Corocoro Bolivia. His photographs of figures in a studio setting and of the Peruvian Southern Railway can be interpreted as a criticism of Colonization and point to the creation of the "other" and the context of Colonial materials in Indigenous scenes to further the awareness of the invasiveness of colonialism into Indigenous contexts.

Richardo Villalba

https://losgrandesfotografos.blogspot.com/2018/01/ricardo-villalba-activo-1860-1880.html

1860-1880

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