Scientific Vision: Maps, Photographs and Other Visual Devices in the Diplomatic Dispute over the Andes as a Natural Border (1900)

CARLA LOIS

Chicago

Simposio; Pictures from an Expedition; 2013

The Newberry Library

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, during negotiations to resolve a boundary dispute between Argentina and Chile, official Argentine bureaus collected materials to build a geographical argument based on the general principle of natural borders (in the sense coined by Friedrich Ratzel), taking the Andes mountains as their preferred reference. Argentinean negotiators used pictures, maps, diagrams, gravures, and panoramic photos to demonstrate their claims of the existence of a ?visible? border, in effect offering a topographical criterion. This paper examines a document (Argentine Evidence, 1900) presented to the British crown, which had been chosen to arbitrate the conflict. This 1,091page, four-volume report included 71 maps, 182 photos, 175 fold-out panoramic photos, 12 engravings and 15 sketches. These images are in dialogue with each other: the photos underwent a cartographic treatment (inscriptions, toponyms, etc.), while the maps are linked with the photographic record by red arcs that show the photographed locations. Focusing on the interplay among image, map, and topography, this essay reveals the relations between geographic arguments and the use of visual devices in processes of territorial claiming.