Bucólico. Circa 1978.

Vintage gelatin silver copy on double weight paper in black and white. Measurements: 21.4 x 38.1 cm / 8.42 x 15 in. Individual copy. On the back, various stamps of photographic entities. Work in good condition.

We can affirm that Juan Gómez stands among the most prominent amateur photographers of his time and, furthermore, with a sustained militancy in the photo-club movement in the institution of his love, that is, the "Photo Club Buenos Aires"; entity founded in 1945 and, probably, the most important in Latin America with its imposing headquarters in calle San José 180, today unfortunately disappeared.

Since its inception, the Photo Club Buenos Aires organized national and even international competitions in various categories and always under the governing supervision of the Argentine Federation of Photography. For decades Juan Gómez participated in these conflicts.

This beautiful composition that he rightly baptized "Bucolic" clearly shows Juan Gómez as an inspired poet of the camera. Using a wide range of blacks, grays and whites he obtains this record of pure nature, with a quiet flock of sheep grazing alongside their young in a wide meadow. The overhead light silvers the white upper fleeces of the sheep, thus obtaining an almost magical visual effect. The work is further enhanced, as the author determined that the copy should be panoramic.

Due to its importance, this photograph participated and won awards in several international shows organized by the following entities: Foto Cine Club (Vaparaíso -Chile), Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante, (São Paulo - Brazil) and in the 33rd Hong Kong International Salon (China).

By Abel Alexander

President of the Ibero-American Society for the History of Photography

JUAN GÓMEZ

Juan Gómez (1932 - 2018), Argentine photographer, historian, documentary maker and photographic disseminator. He has been linked to amateur photography since 1964, when he took a course at the Photo Club Buenos Aires in the Federal Capital. Since then he has cultivated photographic art with a very active participation both nationally and internationally. Since 1970 he has been a Jury of that institution, having served in such capacity in the International Exhibition and in the National Photography Exhibition organized annually by the National Culture body. He also belonged to the Jury Corps of the Argentine Federation of Photography.

As an artist he stood out and represented the country internationally, both in the black and white section and in color slides, having obtained important awards. Among many others, he achieved the highest distinction as a FIAP Artist: FIAP Excellence. Since then he has been listed in the "Who is Who in Photography" by the Photographic Society of America.

Committed to the activity, he led the Central Committee of the Argentine Federation of Photography and was secretary for two periods of the Photo Club Buenos Aires. He was a founding member of the Argentine Academy of Science and Art of Photography, and also of the Cofrades nucleus of the Photographic Camera. Likewise, he was a founding member and director of the Research Center on Ancient Photography in Argentina (CIFAA), "Dr. Julio F. Riobó", created in 1985. In addition, he organized and was a panelist at the First Seminar on the Restoration of Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes and tintypes, in 1987.

Since 1972 he ventured into specialized journalism, and was director of the magazine Cuarto Oscuro, dean of publications dedicated to photography in the country, the official organ of the Photo Club Buenos Aires. At LRA 1 Radio Nacional Buenos Aires, he directed the Cuarto Oscuro Radial audition for four years, a program of his exclusive creation and performance. He has written numerous photographic articles for national and foreign media, especially on the subject of early photography in Argentina. Author of the book Photography in Argentina, its history and evolution in the 19th century, 1840-1899, the first work of its kind related to our historical-photographic past that has become the founding stone and a classic of the specialty.

In honor of him, we present four outstanding vintage black and white photographs of his authorship.