Los Ambulantes

A book recording the work of the itinerant photographers of Guatemala - a tradition that was widespread in South America but has declined due to developments in photographic technologies and opportunities and shifting aspirations around how a person wishes to be seen.

There are few surviving examples of the itinerants’ own work as it was made to answer a client’s intimate needs or legal obligations and without the ambition to exceed this existence beyond garnering local reputation or the idea of any formal publication in mind (the book includes all the authors could find). Ann Parker’s photographs are taken over the itinerant’s shoulders as they make their work.

People pay to have photographs taken of themselves for reasons known only to themselves as well as official ones. Itinerant photographers provide the cheapest possible and sometimes only available means to obtain a photograph for identifying documents for those outside of cities.

The images provide the means to a personal and political identity and individual significance. One feels with the subjects that there is a magical relation between the photograph and life.

The text is based on hundreds of interviews with the photographers themselves to give an idea of their work and life traversing the secular and religious fairs and markets of Guatemala seeking out customers.

Hardback, first edition. Good condition. 149 pages. 1982.