Valparaiso

Éditions Xavier Barral - Valparaiso - Sergio LarrainPhotographs: Sergio LarrainTexts: Sergio Larrain - Pablo NerudaValparaisoThis new edition of the Sergio Larrain's Valparaiso is exceptional in more than one way: it is faithful to the model established by the artist in 1993 in response to the edition original published by Hazan in 1991. This version presents for the first time times unpublished photographs taken between 1952 and 1992 (120 images instead of 38). Intimate work, handwritten notes and committed texts by the author share with us his unique vision of the world. Without forgetting the text of Pablo Neruda, "The Vagabond of Valparaiso", specially written for Sergio Larrain.Sergio Larrain crossed the photographic planet like a meteorite. His concern for purity, his attraction to meditation led him to abandon his job as a reporter and to isolate himself in the Chilean countryside. He devotes himself then to writing and painting, while continuing to deeply love the photography. His practice was then limited to a few poems in images called " satori", pure moments of dazzlement.Sergio LarrainBorn in 1931, the young Sergio Larrain grew up in Chile in a family of enlightened notables. Very He quickly sought to get away from his family environment and went to study at Berkeley, in the United States. Initially interested in ecological issues, he quickly moved moving towards photography without really knowing how to make a living. The discovery of the Leica object will be decisive. He begins to photograph freely through the streets of Santiago or Valparaiso and then becomes a photographer freelance. Very impressed by Henri Cartier-Bresson, his work and his freedom, he presents his work on Los abandonados (the abandoned children) from the streets of Santiago) during a trip to Europe. This is how he sees himself propose to join the Magnum cooperative in 1960. Sergio Larrain begins then a career as an international photographer, producing reports for many newspapers. Back in Chile he will carry out a long work, which has become mythical, on Valparaiso in collaboration with Pablo Neruda who will write the text. Distrustful of the press world, he gradually stopped collaborating with it she to become more interested in meditation practices while remaining active in Chile. In the 1980s, he finally decided to live in retirement in the campaign to practice yoga, meditation and drawing until the end of his days. His archives are represented by Magnum Photos.