Body and Territory: the Role of Photography in Chile (1843-1930)

Abstract

After its arrival in Chile in 1843, photography was actively used by the elite, producing numerous personal and family portraits and representations of the national territory. Through the analysis of these images, it is argued that photography contributed to the elite’s strengthening, legitimising its privileged status within the Chilean society. Through that, it gave meaning to the Chilean State, fortifying its identity as an independent nation. With photographies, body and territory are 1) spatially placed and administered, through the embellishment and opulence of cities, houses, sets, and costumes; and 2) temporally, via references to the tradition and the consolidation of a horizon of progress that is beneficial to all, but let only by some.