Ricardo Villaalba's Péron et Bolivie : types et costumes : an album of cartes de visite

Despite the research done by many authors on the history of Andean people and their culture, and some research done on the history of Latin American photography, little is known about the Villaabla's Péron et Bolivie - Types et Costumes album. It is my contention that in order to understand how commercial photography altered and perpetuated an image of Andean people, it is necessary to understand the influences of the nineteenth century mindset and the business of photography. The album Péron et Bolivie - Types et Costumes, consists of two hundred cartes de visite ca. 1860 on Aymara and Quechua Indian types. The symbolic clues within the images, and nineteenth century cultural attitudes, as suggested by the handwritten text, imply that categorization of Villaalba's sitters as types of people that could be seen in Péru and Bolivia. My examination and analysis of the album aims to interpret the images through a variety of disciplines that include photography, anthropology, and sociology. By investigating the Péron et Bolivie - Types et Costumes album, I hope to contribute research about the album, create an awareness of its existence, and provide an examination of Villaabla's work that will help others investigate similar topics.