Familiar Faces Photography, Memory and Argentina’s Disappeared

Goldsmiths Press

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2024 p. 216

978-1-913380-76-2

Pressphotography was a crucial part of the construction of the image ofthe Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and, through them, of those disappearedby the military dictatorship in Argentina. After the 1976 coup,a close relationship developed between some Mothers and a group ofphotojournalists.This special bond resulted in the creation of several emblematicphotographs, which continue to function as iconic images ofresistance to the dictatorship to this day. This chapter traces theorigins of this relationship and analyses how the image of theMothers was constructed, and how it inscribed itself into theirstrategies for gaining wider visibility. The visualmaterial analysed here consists of photographs with little or nocirculation at the time of the events depicted, as well as aselection of images that are amongst the most commonly used whentalking about the Mothers in books, films, the press, photographyexhibitions, commemorations, human rights activities and websites.The chapter also includes the analysis of a piece of Dutch televisionfootage, shot during the 1978 World Cup, that proved key to theMothers’ worldwide visibility and recognition, and to the creationof an extensive solidarity network with their cause. p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-GB }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Sans CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }