Cacique and his wife. Northeast Argentina. 1892.

Vintage albumen -measures: 21.5 x 17 cm / 8.46 x 6.7 in- loose. Work in excellent condition. It is displayed framed.

The image was captured by Enrique Moody on the trip made by the Paraguay, Paraná and Iguazú rivers as part of the Argentine scientific expedition that advanced through that region collecting flora and fauna products to present at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893 The group -commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Nation- was formed by its boss, the German naturalist Gustavo Niederlein, the taxidermist Pedro Serié and, among others, the painter Augusto Ballerini, who on that trip made one of his most outstanding works, "The Iguazú waterfall”, one of whose versions is kept in the National Museum of Fine Arts, and the photographer Enrique Carlos Moody.

This interesting image of the chief and his arms, accompanied by his three wives, was reproduced in an article published in the American Geographical Magazine (Year III, number 27, 1935), authored by Pedro Serié, with the account of the expedition. Later it was reissued in postcard form, among others, by Roberto Rosauer, one of the most active publishing firms of the time. Moody was a great supplier of photography for this industry, which was booming in those years.

Nephew of the brothers Samuel and Arturo Boote, for whom he worked photographically at first, Enrique Moody (Ajó, Cuenca del Salado, 1863 - Buenos Aires, 1935) began his activities independently around 1884 with a store on the 627/635 Corrientes street at Buenos Aires with seafood annex. And with the photography market greatly expanded, he made an important contribution to Argentine iconography by publishing albums with original views.

This beautiful photograph of a clear anthropological nature is also an example of border images.