Paz Errázuriz

Paz Errázuriz (born 2 February 1944 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean photographer. Errázuriz documented marginalized communities such as sex workers, psychiatric patients, and circus performers during the military dictatorship of Chile. Errázuriz's has said about her work: "They are topics that society doesn't look at, and my intention is to encourage people to dare to look." She was a teacher at a primary school when Augusto Pinochet overtook Chile's Presidential Palace in 1973, inspiring her to begin her photography career. She is the co-founder of the Association of Independent Photographers (AFI). Originally titled the "Asociación de Fotógrafos Independientes," she helped create the AFI in 1981 to make it easier for artists in Chile to find legal support and organize group art shows.
She is also a collaborator for the magazine Apsi and of diverse press agencies. She is known for her work in marginalized communities. Errázuriz goes on to say about her work: "...what I photograph has to do with people who are not at the center, who stand outside and have always been subordinated to power." Errázuriz began her career in the 1970s, and ever since she has been a voice for subordinate groups in society, more specifically, in Chile.
She was a primary school teacher at the time when she started her photography, and was slowly taking pictures "under the radar."
Errázuriz has put out multiple collections that includes Sex, Instrument of Survival, which was published in her 2016 book Paz Errázuriz, which contains multiple collections of her works. The photographs featured in Sex, Instrument of Survival were taken from several of her more specific collections, specifically Adam's apple, Brothels, and Dolls: Chile-Peru border. Also known as La Manzana de Adán, Adam's apple is a collection of photographs taken from 1982 through 1987 and depicts transgender women prostitutes working in brothels located in Santiago and Talca, Chile. She spent time living with and getting to know these women personally for her project. She took several photos of three particular women from the same brothel community: Pilar, Evelyn and Mercedes. Many of the people who were photographed in this collection feared for their life, as gender variance and homosexuality were deemed particularly unacceptable and shameful during this time in Chilean history. This made cross-dressing a dangerous thing for these transvestite prostitutes to do, despite them seeing it as an outward expression of their true selves. Errázuriz used the medium of photography to show the marginalization of this population. Errázuriz said that during her time with these women she "learned so much about love, community, and I found a family that I wish had always been my own."
Another collection of photographs by Errázuriz is Impediments of the Gaze, which was published in her 2016 book called, Paz Errázuriz. The pictures featured in this collection were taken from her series called, Blindness and Blinding Light. In this series Errázuriz wanted to highlight the conditions of being blind and a condition called achromatopsia. She specifically showcased these conditions as a metaphor to most of her work being black and white. This work was done in 2003 in Chile. In the series Stages of Life (And Death) Errázuriz displays photographs of children and elderly individuals to showcase the different stages of life and death. These photographs range from the late 1990s to the early and looks at the different aspects of being human through the lens of her camera.
This book also includes a collection called Agents and Spaces of Social Change. This collection featured the oppression that Chile was facing during the dictatorship, and the progression of it getting better and sometimes worse. This collection contains black and white photographs taken between the late 1970s to the early 2000s. Errázuriz was trying to show the different aspects of people's lives during the time of the dictatorship.
Her work has been collected by the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, and the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts
The photography of Paz Errázuriz looks at different aspects of human life. She has been doing photography for a little over forty years. She more specifically looked at the daily life of citizens in Chile during the political regime. She is drawn to capture populations that are marginalized and were affected by the government during the 70s and 80s. She wanted to capture what their experience was like whether it was daily life or social movements. She captured photos of lower class status citizens in Chilean society during this distressful period in history.
Errázuriz always made sure to have her camera in hand when in public places although it was not acceptable at this time for women to be taking pictures on the streets of Chile during the dictatorship, so for Errázuriz to be doing so it was a bold statement. Physically taking pictures with a camera was a symbolic statement for standing up against the military regime during this time. Errázuriz was personally affected by the Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) at this time. Her own house was raided by the police in 1973, so she understood personally the circumstances of this period in history. Errázuriz made a statement about taking photos during the time of the dictatorship saying, "'The need to photograph was a constant, but one had to be extremely careful' – Paz Errázuriz".