THE MAPUCHES BEFORE THE CAMERAS

Mapuches. Chile and Argentina. Early 20th century.

Beautiful collection of 40 postcards -about 9.5 x 14 cm / 3.74 x 5.51 in.- with Mapuche photographs. Almost all "circulated" in 1903.

The set offers us a varied representation of uses and customs of the Mapuche people. The vast majority -35 of them- edited by the German Carlos Brandt, at his branch in Concepción (Chile), printed in green tones. Two were edited in color by Carmelo Ibarra, from Buenos Aires. One with the legend “Property of Hume y Cía. Ahumada 357 ”. And the remaining two, without reference to photographic edition, are identified with the indication: "Boccard explorations", Araucanian Indians and Indians, "Cordillera del Sur". (1)

Photography, based on the daguerreotype, had its commercial basis in posed studio portraits. But when it advanced towards the documentation of the native peoples, he had to face other challenges, both technical and aesthetic. Especially due to the transfer of the cameras to the natural habitats of these communities, such is the case of this exceptional set of images of the Mapuche people, uploaded on the new postcard.

Although the negative / positive process allowed the possibility of making multiple copies, in practice these were not always numerous. Only when photomechanical printing was achieved was it possible for those almost unique images to multiply into thousands of high-quality copies. With this advance, the photographic “post card” landed at the beginning of the 20th century, which was disseminated with immediate success. Its low cost and circulation through the mail facilitated its planetary dissemination. This phenomenon required three actors: the photographer (not always mentioned), the publisher and the printer.

Charles Brandt -editor of postcards since 1902- was one of the protagonists of this photographic practice in Chile, using images from various photographers.

Notes:

1. Louis de Boccard, an expeditionary of Swiss origin, carried out a mission through Chile, from which he made a photo album entitled “Journey to the Territories of Neuquén, Cordillera del Sur and Chile. January-May 1900 ”. (Source: Mariana Giordano: Expediciones, fotografía y coleccionismo entre siglos (...). In “Revista de Indias”, 2019, vol LXXXIX, no. 275, p. 9).

Bibliography: AAVV: Historia de la postal en Chile. Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, 2007. Hernán Rodríguez Villegas: Historia de la fotografía. Fotógrafos en Chile 1900 - 1950. National Center for Photographic Heritage, Santiago, 2011.

S.E.H-IX-GEMM