[Untitled]

Studio Photography of the Indigenous figure, material culture, and domestic space

This is an assortment of Villalba’s studio photography. There are eight images in the composition. The top left is a figure that appears to be looking directly at the camera. The seated figure is wearing draping clothing and is surrounded by various clothing items. Indigenous groups in the Andes highly regarded clothing as an identifier of class status, and the presence of an abundance of clothing could reference the changing status of indigenous people in Latin America due to Colonization. The top right photo depicts two figures presumably female. The one on the right is facing toward the camera and the one on the left faces toward the figure on the right. They are both seated and appear to be sorting, repairing, or handling clothing items. The middle left image appears to be a female figure standing in three quareters profile. They are dressed in draping cloth and a hat. The middle center image appears to be a mother with a child on her back. The backdrop has a tree branch intersecting the top left corner of the composition. The figure is facing left and the child is held on the mother's back with a tied fabric. For the Inka people, pregnant mothers were expected to keep working right up to the day they gave birth and they carried the baby around with them while they worked. The middle right image is a figure standing facing forward next to a chair. The figure has a dark cape with a white collar draped over its shoulders. The bottom left image shows two figures, possibly young sisters. They are seated on the ground and the figure on the left is holding up fabric and possibly mending it. The bottom center image is a figure seated away from the camera and looking through a mirror and at the camera. Another figure stands on the left and faces toward the other figure. The figures are dressed in Indigenous clothing. The ground has two hats and some folded fabric. The bottom right image depicts a female figure carrying sticks on their head. They are facing toward the camera and hold a bag with their right arm and the sticks on their head with the left. Evidence of the type of frequent sitters and activities taking place in Villalba’s studio photography was found on business cards and cabinet cards. His photographs could be seen as representations of local Andean governments anxieties for economic progress and modernization of systems of communication, this includes Manuel Pardo, a businessman and President of Peru between 1868 and 1872 who was a strong supported of railroad building. Villalba's photographs criticize the way in which colonialism affected the Indigenous culture and their territories.

Ricardo Villalba

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

1860-1880

Photograph