Inca Architecture. Ollantaytambo. Martin Chambi. Peru.

Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza (born November 5, 1891 in Coasa, Puno Region, and died September 13, 1973 in Cuzco) was a photographer from southern Peru. He was one of the first great indigenous photographers in Latin America and the first Amerindian photographer to be recognized internationally. Martín Chambi was born on November 5, 1891 in the Coasa district of Puno. He was the son of Felix Chambi and Fernanda Jiménez. In 1900, he entered the world of work and was hired by the Santo Domingo Mining Company. In 1903, he assisted an English engineer who was taking archaeological photographs following extractions by the Santo Domingo company. This inspired Martín Chambi to develop a passion for photography. In 1905, Martín Chambi pursued training in photography and became the assistant of Max T. Vargas, a landscape photographer in Arequipa. Martín Chambi married Manuela López Lisa, a schoolteacher, in 1917. He continued photography by creating a studio in Sicuani and took pictures of Machu Picchu, discovered in 1911 by the American Hiran Bingam. In 1920, he opened a photography studio in Arequipa and then a second in Cuzco in 1924. He co-founded the American Institute of Art of Cusco in the latter in 1927. He died on September 13, 1973 in Cuzco. From 1929 to 1973, the year of his death, his photographs were the subject of numerous exhibitions in Latin America, but especially in Hispano-America. Vintage silver print.