HUAYNA PICCHU PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARTIN CHAMBI

MARTIN CHAMBI (1893-1973), 

Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu (2,430 m -7,970 ft) 

Peru

In Huayna Picchu con humo, photo, 1929

The mountain and site
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 m -7,970 ft above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 m-7,970 feet above mean sea level, over 1,000 m-3,300 ft lower than Cusco, which has an elevation of (3,600 m -11,800 ft. As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru.
The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back.
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham III brought it to international attention in 1911.


The photographer
Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza, was a photographer, originally from southern Peru. He was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. Recognized for the profound historic and ethnic documentary value of his photographs, he was a prolific portrait photographer in the towns and countryside of the Peruvian Andes. As well as being the leading portrait photographer in Cuzco, Chambi made many landscape photographs, which he sold mainly in the form of postcards, a format he pioneered in Peru.
In 1979, New York's MOMA held a Chambi retrospective, which later traveled to various locations and inspired other international expositions of his work.
Martín Chambi was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru, at the end of the nineteenth century. When his father went to work in a Carabaya Province gold mine on a small tributary of the River Inambari, Martin went along. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the photographer of the Santo Domingo Mine near Coaza (owned by the Inca Mining Company of Bradford, Pa). This chance encounter planted the spark that made him seek to support himself as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind, he headed in 1908 to the city of Arequipa, where photography was more developed and where there were established photographers who had taken the time to develop individual photographic styles and impeccable technique.
Chambi initially served as an apprentice in the studio of Max T. Vargas, but after nine years set up his own studio in Sicuani in 1917, publishing his first postcards in November of that year. In 1923 he moved to Cuzco and opened a studio there, photographing both society figures and his indigenous compatriots. During his career, Chambi also travelled the Andes extensively, photographing the landscapes, Inca ruins, and local people.
The archives of Martin Chambi's works are kept in Cuzco in his own house and by the care of his family. Everything is preserved in boxes, left by the photographer, classified and numbered by his own hand. A recent inventory has enumerated about 30,000 photographic plates and more than 12,000 to 15,000 photograph (rolls). Scanning work is in progress to retrieve photographic plates and photos.
"It is wrong to focus too much on the testimonial value of his photos. They have that, indeed, but, in equal measure they express the milieu in which he lived and they show (...) that when he got behind a camera, he became a giant, a true inventor, a veritable force of invention, a recreator of life."
(Mario Vargas Llosa)

___________________________________________

2019 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

VERONICA / URUMBAMBA BY MARTIN CHAMBI

MARTIN CHAMBI (1893-1973)

Veronica / Urubamba ( 5,893 m - 19,334 ft) 

Peru

In  Urubamba Mountain, photo 1930

The mountain 
Veronica  (5,893 m - 19,334 ft), also called Willka Weqe ("holy tear"),  Huacrahuilki, ("horn pass"), Huacay Huilcay, Wayna Willka, Waqaywillka, Urubamba ("spider's plain"), or Padre Eterno is a ( 5,893 m - 19,334 ft) mountain in the Urubamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Cusco Region, La Convenciуn Province, Huayopata District, and in the Urubamba Province, Ollantaytambo District northwest of the town of Ollantaytambo.
The Urubamba mountain range extends in a northwesterly direction between 13°08' and 13°17'S and 71°58' and 72°16'W for about 30 km.

The photographer 
Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza, was a photographer, originally from southern Peru. He was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. Recognized for the profound historic and ethnic documentary value of his photographs, he was a prolific portrait photographer in the towns and countryside of the Peruvian Andes. As well as being the leading portrait photographer in Cuzco, Chambi made many landscape photographs, which he sold mainly in the form of postcards, a format he pioneered in Peru.
In 1979, New York's MOMA held a Chambi retrospective, which later traveled to various locations and inspired other international expositions of his work.
Martín Chambi was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru, at the end of the nineteenth century. When his father went to work in a Carabaya Province gold mine on a small tributary of the River Inambari, Martin went along. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the photographer of the Santo Domingo Mine near Coaza (owned by the Inca Mining Company of Bradford, Pa). This chance encounter planted the spark that made him seek to support himself as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind, he headed in 1908 to the city of Arequipa, where photography was more developed and where there were established photographers who had taken the time to develop individual photographic styles and impeccable technique.
Chambi initially served as an apprentice in the studio of Max T. Vargas, but after nine years set up his own studio in Sicuani in 1917, publishing his first postcards in November of that year. In 1923 he moved to Cuzco and opened a studio there, photographing both society figures and his indigenous compatriots. During his career, Chambi also travelled the Andes extensively, photographing the landscapes, Inca ruins, and local people.
The archives of Martin Chambi's works are kept in Cuzco in his own  house and by the care of his family. Everything is preserved in boxes, left by the photographer, classified and numbered by his own hand. A recent inventory has enumerated about 30,000 photographic plates and more than 12,000 to 15,000 photograph (rolls). Scanning work is in progress to retrieve photographic plates and photos.
"It is wrong to focus too much on the testimonial value of his photos. They have that, indeed, but, in equal measure they express the milieu in which he lived and they show (...) that when he got behind a camera, he became a giant, a true inventor, a veritable force of invention, a recreator of life."
 (Mario Vargas Llosa)

QULLIQIP'UNQU BY MARTIN CHAMBI

MARTIN CHAMBI (1893-1973),

Qullqip'unqu mountain (5,522m - 18,117ft)

Peru 

In Pilgrim at Quyllu rit'i in Qullqip'unqu mountain, 1930, Martin Chambi official Website

The mountain 

Qullqip'unqu (Quechua qullqi money) is a mountain in the Andes of Peru and the name of a lake near the peak. It is situated in the northern extensions of the Willkanuta mountain range in the Cusco Region, Quispicanchi Province, in the districts Ccarhuayo and Ocongate and in the Paucartambo Province, Kosсipata District. Qullqip'unqu lies northwest of the lake Sinkrinaqucha, southeast of Minasniyuq.  The lake named Qullqip'unqu is situated south of the mountain at 13°32′04″S 71°12′29″W. The annual Quyllur Rit'i festival takes place at the foot of the mountains Qullqip'unqu and Sinaqara. The ukukus (Cusco Quechua ukuku spectacled bear (or just 'bear'), also a character in the Andean mythology) of all the groups climb the glaciers of Qullqip'unqu and spend the night there. They return, carrying on their backs huge ice blocks for the people of their community. The waters of the mountain are believed to heal the body and the mind.

The photographer 
Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza, was a photographer, originally from southern Peru. He was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. Recognized for the profound historic and ethnic documentary value of his photographs, he was a prolific portrait photographer in the towns and countryside of the Peruvian Andes. As well as being the leading portrait photographer in Cuzco, Chambi made many landscape photographs, which he sold mainly in the form of postcards, a format he pioneered in Peru.
In 1979, New York's MOMA held a Chambi retrospective, which later traveled to various locations and inspired other international expositions of his work.
Martín Chambi was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru, at the end of the nineteenth century. When his father went to work in a Carabaya Province gold mine on a small tributary of the River Inambari, Martin went along. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the photographer of the Santo Domingo Mine near Coaza (owned by the Inca Mining Company of Bradford, Pa). This chance encounter planted the spark that made him seek to support himself as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind, he headed in 1908 to the city of Arequipa, where photography was more developed and where there were established photographers who had taken the time to develop individual photographic styles and impeccable technique.
Chambi initially served as an apprentice in the studio of Max T. Vargas, but after nine years set up his own studio in Sicuani in 1917, publishing his first postcards in November of that year. In 1923 he moved to Cuzco and opened a studio there, photographing both society figures and his indigenous compatriots. During his career, Chambi also travelled the Andes extensively, photographing the landscapes, Inca ruins, and local people.
The archives of Martin Chambi's works are kept in Cuzco in his own  house and by the care of his family. Everything is preserved in boxes, left by the photographer, classified and numbered by his own hand. A recent inventory has enumerated about 30,000 photographic plates and more than 12,000 to 15,000 photograph (rolls). Scanning work is in progress to retrieve photographic plates and photos.
"It is wrong to focus too much on the testimonial value of his photos. They have that, indeed, but, in equal measure they express the milieu in which he lived and they show (...) that when he got behind a camera, he became a giant, a true inventor, a veritable force of invention, a recreator of life."
 (Mario Vargas Llosa)

CHACHANI BY MARTIN CHAMBI

MARTIN CHAMBI (1891–1973)

Chachani (6, 057m- 19, 872ft) 

 Peru  

1.  In Mount Chachani, 1915,  autochrome 

2.  In Mount Chachani, 1917,  autochrome

3.  In Mount Chacani and The Misti seen from Arequipa, 1920,  autochrome  

The mountain 

Chachani  (6, 057m- 19, 872ft) is  the highest of the mountains near the city of Arequipa in southern Peru and the eighty-four highest summit of the Andes. Between six and eight separate craters form the massif of Chachani. Erosion has only left one recognizable crater in the western part of the complex. This structure has an arcuate shape. A shield 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) thick with a diametre of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) is formed from coalescent lava flows on Chachani's southern side and is known as Pampa de Palacio or Las Cortaderas. An escarpment on the eastern side of Chachani may be part of a "Chachani" caldera, the source of several ignimbrites in the Arequipa area. Vegetation cover above 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) altitude is scarce. 

A Inca temple was constructed on Chachani's summit area, and archeological relics date back to pre-Hispanic times. This sanctuary was looted as early as the end of the 19th century. During one of these lootings, a skeleton of a woman, wooden vessels and ceramics. An archeological study in 2013 did suggest that Chachani's summit was the site of Capacocha sacrifices. Rock material from Chachani has been used to construct churches in Arequipa and sulfur was mined on the mountain. Oral tradition attributes to Chachani the ability to choose the gender of newborn children.
Climbing 
Chachani is often touted as the easiest 6000 meter mountain in the world, and for good reason.  There are three main routes up Chachani but the mountain is normally climbed from its northern side. The start of the trek is at a drop-off point which is reached in 2.5 hours by four-wheel drive vehicle, driving west around Chachani and turning off from the main highway near Pampa Cañahuas, or heading north from Arequipa between Misti and Chachani. Base camp is at approximately 5,200 metres (17,100 ft). There is another higher camp called Camp Azulfrera situated at about 5,400 metres (17,700 ft). The route starts with the ascent to the Angel Col before traversing the El Angel mountain itself. Then climbers ascend the face of Fatima mountain in a zig-zag pattern before making another traverse on the Fatima mountain. Only then the summit of Chachani can be seen. From there, climbers need to make the final ascent on the face of Chachani all the way to the top of the mountain.
The standard route requires crampons and an ice axe, but does not require roping up, as there are no large crevasses on Chachani. Two traverses over relatively steep terrain constitute the main challenges on the way to the summit. The final push to the summit is a very steep[clarification needed] scree slope, which provides for a fast descent back to the first traverse.
In recent years, the amount of snow on Chachani has decreased dramatically, so for many months of the year there may be little snow on the mountain. For example, in October and November 2010, there was no snow at all, and the ascent could be made without crampons or ice axes. Climbers need to check on the snow conditions beforehand.
The average total climb time from base camp ranges from six to nine hours, with a two-to four-hour descent.
 Source: 
- Summitpost. org 

The photographer
Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza, known as Martin Chambi was a photographer, originally from southern Peru. He was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. Recognized for the profound historic and ethnic documentary value of his photographs, he was a prolific portrait photographer in the towns and countryside of the Peruvian Andes. As well as being the leading portrait photographer in Cuzco, Chambi made many landscape photographs, which he sold mainly in the form of postcards, a format he pioneered in Peru.
In 1979, New York's MOMA held a Chambi retrospective, which later traveled to various locations and inspired other international expositions of his work.
Martín Chambi was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru, at the end of the nineteenth century. When his father went to work in a Carabaya Province gold mine on a small tributary of the River Inambari, Martin went along. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the photographer of the Santo Domingo Mine near Coaza (owned by the Inca Mining Company of Bradford, Pa). This chance encounter planted the spark that made him seek to support himself as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind, he headed in 1908 to the city of Arequipa, where photography was more developed and where there were established photographers who had taken the time to develop individual photographic styles and impeccable technique.
Chambi initially served as an apprentice in the studio of Max T. Vargas, but after nine years set up his own studio in Sicuani in 1917, publishing his first postcards in November of that year. In 1923 he moved to Cuzco and opened a studio there, photographing both society figures and his indigenous compatriots. During his career, Chambi also travelled the Andes extensively, photographing the landscapes, Inca ruins, and local people.
The archives of Martin Chambi's works are kept in Cuzco in his own  house and by the care of his family. Everything is preserved in boxes, left by the photographer, classified and numbered by his own hand. A recent inventory has enumerated about 30,000 photographic plates and more than 12,000 to 15,000 photograph (rolls). Scanning work is in progress to retrieve photographic plates and photos.
"It is wrong to focus too much on the testimonial value of his photos. They have that, indeed, but, in equal measure they express the milieu in which he lived and they show (...) that when he got behind a camera, he became a giant, a true inventor, a veritable force of invention, a recreator of life."
 (Mario Vargas Llosa)
 Source:
- Martin Chambi official Website

EL MISTI (GUAGUA PUTINA) PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARTIN CHAMBI

 MARTIN CHAMBI (1893-1983) 

El Misti or Guagua Putina (5,822m -19,101ft)

Peru

3 photos of El Misti from Arequipa between 1917-1930 

Martin Chambi Archivo Fotografico 

The mountain 
El Misti (5,822m -19,101ft) also known as Guagua Putina, is a stratovolcano located in southern Peru near the city of Arequipa. With its seasonally snow-capped, symmetrical cone, Misti lies between mount Chachani (6,075m - 19,931ft) and Pichu Pichu volcano (5,669 m -18,599 ft).
El Misti  is located at 3,415m above the sea level on the Altiplano and the elevation of the cone is approximatively 2,400m  above the Altiplano base. El Misti has three concentric craters. In the inner crater fumarole activity can often be seen. The symmetric conical shape of El Misti is typical of a stratovolcano, a type of volcano characterized by alternating layers of lava and debris from explosive eruptions, such as ash and pyroclastic flows. Stratovolcanoes are usually located on the continental crust above a subducting tectonic plate. The magma feeding the stratovolcanoes of the Andes Mountains, including El Misti, is associated with ongoing subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate. Its most recent relatively minor eruption was in 1985, 198 years after its previous documented eruption. Near the inner crater six Inca mummies and rare Inca artifacts were found in 1998 during a month-long excavation directed by archaeologists Johan Reinhard and Jose Antonio Chavez. These findings are currently stored at the Museo de Santuarios Andinos in Arequipa.
The city center of Arequipa, Peru, lies only 17 kilometers (11 miles) away from the summit of El Misti; the gray urban area is bordered by green agricultural fields. With almost 1 million residents in 2009, it is the second largest city in Peru in terms of population. Much of the building stone for Arequipa, known locally as sillar, is quarried from nearby pyroclastic flow deposits that are white. Arequipa is known as the “White City” because of the prevalence of this building material. The Chili River extends northeastwards from the city center and flows through a canyon between El Misti volcano and Nevado Chachani to the north. Nevado Chachani is a volcanic complex that may have erupted during the Holocene Epoch (from about 10,000 years ago to the present), but no historical eruptions have been observed there.
Climbing
There are two main climbing routes on the volcano. The Pastores route starts at 3,300 m-10,800 f). Usually a camp is made in 4,500 m -14,800 ft  at Nido de Aguilas. The Aguada Blanca route starts at 4,000 m- 13,100 ft near the Aguada Blanca reservoir, and a camp is made in 4,800 m -15,700 ft at Monte Blanco (the camp is named after Mont Blanc, the summit of which is approximately the same elevation as the camp). Neither climbing routes presents technical difficulties, but both are considered strenuous because of the steep loose sand slopes.

The photographer 
Martín Chambi Jiménez or Martín Chambi de Coaza, was a photographer, originally from southern Peru. He was one of the first major indigenous Latin American photographers. Recognized for the profound historic and ethnic documentary value of his photographs, he was a prolific portrait photographer in the towns and countryside of the Peruvian Andes. As well as being the leading portrait photographer in Cuzco, Chambi made many landscape photographs, which he sold mainly in the form of postcards, a format he pioneered in Peru.
In 1979, New York's MOMA held a Chambi retrospective, which later traveled to various locations and inspired other international expositions of his work.
Martín Chambi was born into a Quechua-speaking peasant family in one of the poorest regions of Peru, at the end of the nineteenth century. When his father went to work in a Carabaya Province gold mine on a small tributary of the River Inambari, Martin went along. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the photographer of the Santo Domingo Mine near Coaza (owned by the Inca Mining Company of Bradford, Pa). This chance encounter planted the spark that made him seek to support himself as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind, he headed in 1908 to the city of Arequipa, where photography was more developed and where there were established photographers who had taken the time to develop individual photographic styles and impeccable technique.
Chambi initially served as an apprentice in the studio of Max T. Vargas, but after nine years set up his own studio in Sicuani in 1917, publishing his first postcards in November of that year. In 1923 he moved to Cuzco and opened a studio there, photographing both society figures and his indigenous compatriots. During his career, Chambi also travelled the Andes extensively, photographing the landscapes, Inca ruins, and local people.
The archives of Martin Chambi's works are kept in Cuzco in his own  house and by the care of his family. Everything is preserved in boxes, left by the photographer, classified and numbered by his own hand. A recent inventory has enumerated about 30,000 photographic plates and more than 12,000 to 15,000 photograph (rolls). Scanning work is in progress to retrieve photographic plates and photos.
"It is wrong to focus too much on the testimonial value of his photos. They have that, indeed, but, in equal measure they express the milieu in which he lived and they show (...) that when he got behind a camera, he became a giant, a true inventor, a veritable force of invention, a recreator of life."
 (Mario Vargas Llosa)
Sources:
 - Martin Chambi official Website