Customer Reviews

MARTIN CHAMBI PB

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't stop looking at this book. It is that captivating. Chambi's work helps to preserve one of the world's most fascinating and unique cultures. To look at his photography is to look at Cuzco itself. In the eyes of the people of Cuzco you can see years of desperation yet at the same time a great sense of hope. This collection of photos brings to life Cuzco pre-Machu Picchu tourism boom and does it wonderfully. Chambi was not only Peru's best photographers, he was at the time one of the wolrd's best. It has been said that he showed a perfect sense of balance in his work. Chambi clearly captures moods as is evident in this collection. Among his most well known photographs is "Tristeza Andina" or "Andean Melancholy." This is a haunting but beautiful photograph of a Quechua Indian playing a flute with his llama standing behind him. It is difficult to describe the feelings that this photograph can evoke. This book is easily worth any amount you may pay for it.

This is a Smithsonian monograph collection of photographs by the Peruvian photographer that portray many facets of Peruvian life... Print quality is excellent. The photographs are amazing and a fascinating look at culture, landscape and society 1920 - 1950.

Unlike so many dedicated photographers of the early 20th century, the talent possessed by M Chambi let him create images that others may only have dreamed of. I work as a photographer today, and cannot explain the depths to which I have been touched by this work. Using a large plate camera, everything manual, teaching himself the craft (as an apprentice), and answering his own questions about 'how do I do this?', Chambi's pictures are singular, powerful, wonderful. More than a few times I have carried this book to my lab, and asked, 80 years after the fact, how can I make a photograph that looks this rich? No answers are forthcoming, but if the viewer enjoys these photographs the way you would savour a glass of good cognac, you may find out for yourself. The secrets lie within, and Chambi has shown us the way. You must own this book

Enhanced with an informative Foreword by Mario Vargas Llosa and introductions by Edward Ranney and Publio Lopez Mondejar, Martin Chambi: Photographs 1920-1950 presents the enduring and transcendent black-and-white photography of Martin Chambi, one of Peru's most acclaimed photographers. His pictures strikingly present the daily lives of Cuzco men and women in the first half of the twentieth century, and presents a wealth of portraits filled with emotion, determination, which ultimately form an impressive legacy of memory and pride. Martin Chambi: Photographs, 1920-1950 is a highly recommended addition to any personal, professional, or academic Photography Studies reference collection.

Anyone and I mean anyone who appreciates really really good photography will be amazed at the images in this collection. Some of the images are so sharp it's hard to believe Chambi took these portraits 70-80 years ago (and before CGI!). The print quality is so fine - the blacks are so black and the grey scale is so expansive - truly a wonder that he created these images in the 1920's. Once I opened the book I couldn't put it down and really didn't think Chambi could top himself with the next image and then he did. The faces, the backdrops, the group portraits are just stunning - no other word for it. All of the images are fabulous but the really outstanding ones in my mind are any and all of the group shots. He captured Peruvians like no one before him. His work is so good you feel like you've experienced a few minutes hanging out with a variety of really interesting and unique people of that era. I'm a huge fan!