[Photo Collage: Two People Holding Girl in Water] 1870 - 1880

This photo collage was made in Uruguay by Juan Pedro Chabalgoity, though the precise date is unknown. It's a humorous and rather unsettling image, combining photographs of faces with painted bodies. The cultural references at play are intriguing. The figures are wading in water, perhaps a beach scene reflecting the leisure activities of the upper classes in Montevideo at the time. The cut-and-paste aesthetic hints at the rise of mass media and the manipulation of images in popular culture. What are we to make of it? Is it a playful subversion of traditional portraiture, a comment on social roles, or simply a quirky family snapshot? To understand this image better, we would need to delve into the photographic practices and popular culture of Uruguay in the late 19th century. Researching local archives and photographic journals might reveal similar examples of vernacular photography, shedding light on the social context that gave rise to this strange, compelling work.