[ BOOK LIVES ] Londres by Sergio Larrain

Londres
by Sergio Larrain
Editions Hazan
ISBN 2 85025 603 X

Considered the most famous Chilean photographer, dead and alive, Sergio Larrain’s entry in Wikipedia is surprisingly short.

What’s most notable in the short note is that “Photographs he took in Paris by Notre Dame Cathedral, which revealed scenes of a couple only upon processing, became the basis for Julio Cortázar’s story, “Las Babas del Diablo“, “The Devil’s Drool”, which in turn inspired Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blow-Up.”

That would be enough to put him on the global photography map permanently.

But let’s not take away from the fact that he was truly a great seer, a term I am stingy in conferring.

Sure, if we look at these pictures now, one may be tempted to dismiss them as old-fashioned. But what’s wrong with that right?

I think I first know about Chile from Larrain, not some Miss Universe and that should count for something.

Compared to to the original Valparaiso, a work that has much more importance to Larrain, Londres, isn’t that rare or hard to find. I think it has more to do with ignorance rather than abundance.

If you do find a copy, grab it.