" Chilean photographer Paz Errázuriz began taking photographs in the 1970s during the Pinochet dictatorship, and in subsequent decades traveled extensively to document the landsape and people of her native country.
Throughout her dedicated practice, Errázuriz became intimate with not only her home city, Santiago, but also Chile’s central valley, Patagonia, and Valparaíso, forming long-lasting relationships with her many subjects. Her commitment to her subjects is steadfast—she is known for spending months or years within a given community, building trust and carefully studying social structures. During the dictatorship her projects were in violation of the regulations imposed by the military regime, as she dared to visit underground brothels, shelters, psychiatric wards, and boxing clubs, where women were not welcome.
Here over 170 photographs are compiled for the first time, resulting in a retrospective publication spanning over forty years. In the words of author Gerardo Mosquera, "the spaces explored in Errázuriz’s photos—beyond the striking personalities—reveal an extreme aesthetic that also exposes the potholes and irregularities left in the path of modernization. Her work consistently focuses on the social marginality that continues to plague the country, thereby capsizing Chile’s image of buoyancy by intuitively penetrating the contradictions—the innumerable cracks and fissures—that persist to this day.” "
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" La photographe chilienne Paz Errázuriz a commencé à prendre des photos dans les années 1970, pendant la dictature de Pinochet. Au cours des décennies suivantes, elle a beaucoup voyagé pour documenter le paysage et les habitants de son pays natal.
Tout au long de sa carrière, Errázuriz s'est familiarisée non seulement avec sa ville natale, Santiago, mais aussi avec la vallée centrale du Chili, la Patagonie et Valparaíso, nouant des relations durables avec ses nombreux sujets. (...) Pendant la dictature, ses projets allaient à l'encontre des règles imposées par le régime militaire, car elle osait se rendre dans des bordels clandestins, des refuges, des services psychiatriques et des clubs de boxe, où les femmes n'étaient pas les bienvenues.
Plus de 170 photographies sont ici rassemblées pour la première fois, ce qui donne lieu à une publication rétrospective couvrant plus de quarante ans. "
Textes de Juan Vicente ALIAGA, Gerardo MOSQUERA et de Paulina VARAS.
Paz ERRAZURIZ est née le 2 février 1944 à Santiago, au Chili.
