Wessing, Chili september 1973
Wessing, Chili september 1973
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Wessing, Koen. Chili september 1973. Amsterdam, De Bezige Bij 1973. 4° (24,5 x 20 cm.). [48] p. with 24 Duotone plates, most of which are double-sheet size. Original cardboard cover. Auer 562. Gierstberg/Suermondt 124 f. Heiting, Dutch photo publications 498. Parr/Badger I, 22. Vgl. Fernández, The Latin American Photobook 102 (Torres, Neruda: entierro y testamento. Las Palmas 1973). – „The book begins with a double-page spread of a pile of burning papers. On the top a face can be glimpsed President Salvador Allende of Chile, overthrown by military revolt. Allende had been democratically elected, but the United States, in one of the most disreputable episodes in its recent history, deemed his socialist government a Marxist threat to American interests in South America. The CIA actively worked to destabilize the country and supported the military junta of General Augusto Pinochet, who seized power in September 1973. The far-from-bloodless coup leaves today’s Chile still trying to come to terms with the damage done to its democratic institutions over three decades ago. The Dutch photographer Koen Wessing was on the streets of Santiago immediately after the coup happened. His gritty documentary pictures were quickly published in this no-frills, extremely elegant photobook by De Bezige Bij, publisher of so many of the best Dutch photographic books. There are not many images in the book, but each is carefully considered, modest and succinct, spread across a double page in graphic gravure. Despite the difficulties of taking photographs in such a tense and difficult situation, Wessing never forgets the value of composition and lighting control. The main thrust of the book is the coup’s immediate aftermath, the shock and grief of the people, the rounding up of Allende’s supporters (or suspected supporters) by the army, and their herding into the now notorious National Stadium in Santiago, where many would be tortured and killed. Wessing vividly captures one of these executions, in a two-page sequence that forms the book’s climax“ (Martin Parr). – The cover is slightly discolored, as usual, but it’s a very good copy.
Unser Preis: EUR 450,-- |
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