Courtney McWhorter and Professor James Swensen, Art History Department

Introduction

In Argentina, many of the artists outside of the capitol are not studied despite how important they might be to the history of Argentina. I was once passing through a town in La Pampa, and I walked into a local museum. On a temporary display, I saw beautiful photographs taken from the 1920s and later. As a student of art history, I was intrigued by the works and wanted to know more about the photographer. I asked the lady at the museum if there was a pamphlet or book about the artist that I could purchase to learn more about him. She regretfully informed me that there was nothing on him that I could take with me. When she saw my dismay, she informed me that the photographer’s granddaughter, however, lived in town and I could ask her any question I might have.

I did not have much time left in the city, but I quickly ran to meet the granddaughter of the photographer whose work I had just been introduced to. I met the lady at a local art initiative project office and introduced myself and the interest I had in the work of her grandfather and the disappointment I had in learning that there was nothing published on the photographer. As we talked and she told me some of the history of the photographer, I realized there was plenty to research and investigate. She also told me that she had his entire collection of work that she had just recently donated to the local provincial historical archive. We exchanged contact information, and I had hoped that I might return to Argentina to research and tell the story of this photographer.

Methodology

I stayed in contact with the granddaughter while I applied for a research grant and made plans to travel back to Argentina to gather the information that I needed to complete the project. She sent me a few images and gave me links to websites that had a little information on the photographer and his son who was also a photographer. I researched and learned what I could. Once the grant was awarded and the appropriate time arrived, I traveled down to Argentina to conduct a full investigation on the photographer, his life, work and the story his work told. I spent about a week interviewing the descendents of the photographer, visiting museums that housed his work and objects, archives, and photographing places that he had photographed to compare to his work. I was able to get copies of his photographs and films he had made. I was also able to find newspaper articles, biographies, and books published with his work during his lifetime. I also was able to learn a lot more about the history of Argentina and how his work connected to it.

Results

Before I had conducted the research, I knew the photographs were good quality especially for the time period. However, it wasn’t until I was doing the research that I discovered the story and how important his work is for understanding the history of Argentina. There was a period of time after the Native Americans had been pushed out that Argentina began to be colonized at the turn of the century by European immigrants. A young Domingo Filippini set out with a friend to photograph the colonizing of Argentina. He settled in one specific town and photographed it during the remainder of his life and his son continued the work for his career. The whole history of a town beginning with its foundation was recorded through photography, and the story the photographs tell is a similar story for much of Argentina.

Discussion

Photography is important for what it tells and documents. The photographs taken by Domingo Filippini show what the land was like after the Native Americans left, who settled the areas, what their struggles were and what they worked for. Once Filippini settled in General Pico, La Pampa, he set up a studio. Many of those around commissioned him to photograph them in front of their land, house or auto to send the photographs home to their families they had left in Europe to show their prosperity in the new country. It was also customary for the immigrants to bring building plans from their country to be constructed in Argentina. Therefore, Argentina is filled with buildings that look like their European counterparts. Filippini’s photos illustrate this, and they also how the cities grew around this buildings that were erected in the middle of nowhere. Filippini’s photographs show really how Argentina became to be what it is today outside of the capitol.

Conclusion

As I conducted the research, I met a lot of people and worked with a lot of people all of who oddly thanked me for the work I was doing. Many of them told me that they felt honored someone had taken an interest in an Argentine photographer, especially one that told their story. As I visited other places, many others started telling me of other photographers from different regions who had done a similar thing, believing that their stories might interest me as well. I realized that there are many stories to tell that have been left untold, and gratefully to photographers those stories and memories have been preserved for others to tell their stories, and I was able to understand a little more what the history of a people through the photographs.