City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2015 A Light in the Darkness: Argentinian Photography During the Military Dictatorship (1976-1983) Ana Tallone Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1152 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS: ARGENTINIAN PHOTOGRAPHY DURING THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP (1976-1983) by Ana Tallone A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2015 © 2015 Ana Tallone All Rights Reserved ! ii! This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Art History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Katherine Manthorne _____________________ ______________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Rachel Kousser ______________________ ______________________________ Date Executive Officer Geoffrey Batchen Anna Indych-López Jordana Mendelson Supervisory Committee ! iii! ABSTRACT A Light in the Darkness: Argentinian Photography During the Military Dictatorship (1976-1983) by Ana Tallone Adviser: Katherine Manthorne In 2006, on the thirtieth anniversary of the military coup that brought Argentinian democracy to a halt, a group of photojournalists put together an outstanding exhibition of images from the dictatorship.1 This dissertation critically engages with the most enduring photojournalistic works produced during this period and featured in the landmark retrospective. By researching the historical context of these photographs, I aim to underscore the important contributions photojournalists made not only during the dictatorship, but also in its immediate aftermath, when the most iconic images were republished in printed publications including newspapers, magazines and books. As a starting point, I review the initial phases of photography in Argentina, and sui generis photojournalistic ventures. I then demonstrate that the field became very quickly divided between fine art photography and photojournalism. The first part of my dissertation points to the contradictory attitudes of the renowned photographers Sara Facio and Alicia D’Amico, who publicly praised the work of socially engaged photography in international colloquia, while at the same time disregarding the work of young photojournalists. Many of the photojournalists of the 1980s took a political stance, which was manifest in the exhibitions they !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Pablo Cerolini, En Negro y Blanco. Fotografías del Cordobazo al Juicio a las Juntas (Buenos Aires, Argentina: Subsecretaría de Derechos Humanos del Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Nación, 2006). ! iv! organized. I argue for the historical significance of these photojournalists’ exhibitions as artistic points of resistance to official discourse at the time. Next, I identify news images as photojournalistic icons that have been repeatedly reused in diverse contexts after their original publication, articulating new meanings based on available social knowledge. I engage with the different uses of the term icon for such images. Finally, I analyze the official visual discourse during the dictatorship period to argue that the relevance given to “the visual” during those years indirectly benefited photojournalism. I conclude by studying the 2006 exhibition that inspired this project, because it represented a milestone for the recognition of photojournalism in Argentina. I also indicate directions for future research regarding the current state of institutions of memory by describing photographic works that have dominated the gallery spaces of such establishments in recent years, and hint at the future for photojournalistic icons. ! v! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would never have been able to finish my dissertation without the guidance of my committee members, help from friends, and support from my family. I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Katherine Manthorne for her supervision, patience and understanding. She has been a fundamental supporter throughout the entire dissertation process, and worked her magic to accommodate the particularities of this endeavor. I am also thankful to Dr. Anna Indych-López and Dr. Jordana Mendelson, for their attention to my text and insightful suggestions. I am forever indebted to Dr. Mendelson for helping me frame this project theoretically. She has been extraordinarily generous in her mentorship throughout my graduate studies, not only providing her insight and patiently correcting my writing but also offering her warm friendship. I am also thankful to Dr. Geoffrey Batchen who through his sharp observations helped me improve this manuscript tremendously and was willing to participate in my final defense committee at the last moment. They have all been a constant source of inspiration, and I have been honored to have them on my defense committee. I also want to acknowledge the marvelous team of professors that I had at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. They were not directly involved in this project but they were fundamental in persuading me to continue with my graduate studies. Thanks to Anne Burkus- Chasson, Rachael Z. DeLue, Jonathan Fineberg, David O'Brien, Lisa Rosenthal, Oscar E. Vázquez. Special thanks to Okwui Enwezor, who while teaching at Urbana told me that “I was PhD material.” Many individuals and institutions have aided me in my research in Argentina including the staff at the Hemeroteca de la Biblioteca Nacional Argentina, Espacio para la Memoria, and Equipo de Antropología Forense, especially to Silvana Turner, and the Archivo ARGRA. Lucila ! vi! Quieto and Inés Ulanovsky not only shared their stories with me, but also executed an important archival reorganization from which I benefited enormously. In New York I consulted the Columbia University Libraries and the Newspaper collection of The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library. I appreciate the help received by their staff. I owe my deepest gratitude to the photojournalists and artists, who graciously answered my questions and shared material from their own collections, including Abel Alexander, Víctor Bugge, Rafael Calviño, Pablo Cerolini, Daniel García, Andy Goldstein, Eduardo Grossman, Adriana Lestido, Pedro Linger Gasiglia, Edurado Longoni, Gonzalo Martínez, Julio Menajovsky, Oscar Pintor, Ximena Torres, Carlos Villoldo, and Rafael Wollmann in Argentina. In New York, I would like to thank Susan Meiselas and Fred Ritchin for meeting me and for their suggestions. Special thanks goes to Pablo Lasansky who not only shared his story with me, but also shared his contacts, facilitating my research for this dissertation. I am incredibly grateful to those photojournalists, such as Dani Yako and Eduardo “Negro” Frías, who shared their moving stories. A very special thanks goes to my friend Taína Caragol for reading early versions of several chapters, and for constantly encouraging me. Thanks also to my friend Florencia Tateossian not only for her constant warm words but also for providing help while I was away from the United States. I am also grateful to my colleagues and fellow students at the Graduate Center, Mitra Monir Abbaspour, Marisa Lerer, Daniel Quiles, Jenny Tobias who generously shared their own research to help my writing at critical moments and encouraged me with their examples. My friends were sources of constant encouragement and provided a much needed laugh when I most needed it, especially Sebatián Anapolsky, Vanesa Albamonte, Martinica ! vii! Barrionuevo, Gabriela Berardone, Natalia Buacar, Daniela Bullrich, Ignacio Camdessus, Inés Daverede, Irina Khatsernova, Silvana Kostenbaum, Carolina Nahón, Florencia Giavedoni, Sonia Jalfin, Marisa Miodoski, Mariana Percovich, Marcela Solans, Laura Zuccaro and the Sorotski family. To my scholar friends, Pilar Arcidácono, Fernanda Page Poma, Laura Lenci, Ernesto Semán and Ariel Yablón, who clarified important historical details, provided sources and key articles, I am also grateful. To Facundo Bargalló who not only helped navigate the tricky words of academic work and maternity challenges but also called my attention to important sources. To Horacio Medina who gave me his own collection of old magazines. These were key primary sources for this research, and to Hernán Iglesias Illa who clarified journalistic terms for me. I am also greateful to Carolina Duek for helping with preliminary research for this project, Tara Sullivan for editing the different chapters while always adhering to my crazy deadlines, Mike Bloch who edited the second chapter, Emma-Kate Symons who edited this acknowledgements and Gillian Sneed for editing the last version of the entire dissertation. I would also like to thank my family in Buenos Aires, especially my mother Mirta Cuenca, who has written me daily since I moved to the U.S., and my sister María Inés Tallone, for her friendship and care. Although my father Ricardo Tallone passed away in the early stages of this project, he was an important help and supporter during the first years of my graduate studies. No words are enough to thank Daniel Kerner