Martín Chambi: Google doodle on great Peruvian photographer on his 129th birthday

Happy Birthday Martín Chambi!!!

Google today celebrates the 129^th birthday of Martín Chambi, who was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. He was originally from southern Peru.

Martín Chambi is also widely credited as one of the greatest Peruvian photographers of the 20^th century. Martín Chambi showcased the intangible essence of Peru’s Andean people, the dramatic landscape they inhabit, and their inimitable culture and heritage.

Martín Chambi (Martín Jerónimo Chambi Jiménez) was born on November 5, 1891 in the town of Coaza in the southern Peruvian Andes. He was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru.

Martín Chambi fell in love with photography at a young age. He commenced his work as a photographer as an apprentice to Max T. Vargas in Arequipa, Peru. He moved to the city of Arequipa to pursue the craft. He photographed the newly-discovered citadel of Machu Picchu in the year 1917, and his panoramas helped to ignite the site’s worldwide reputation.

Martín Chambi produced a variety of works over his career as a photographer. He took several snaps of both wealthy and elite members of society including the indigenous people. He also took many self-portraits. He was quoted in a magazine interview in 1936 saying, “in my archive I have more than two hundred photographs of diverse aspects of the Quechua culture.”

Martín Chambi travelled to Chile to exhibit some of his artworks. He used his artistic skills to allow the audience to understand how the photographer prioritized the indigenous outcome that relates to the Peruvians and the Chileans. The photographer manage to redevelop the process through his artwork, letting the viewers and art critics to understand these types of political issues that concern between the Chileans and the Peruvians.

A true innovator, Martín Chambi is also credited as the first person to publish a photographic postcard in Peru. His photography experienced a surge in international exposure in the late ‘70s, leading to a posthumous solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1979.

Martín Chambi died on September 13, 1973. Google today dedicates a beautiful doodle to the famous Peruvian photographer on his 129^th birthday.

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