The Ministry of Culture of the Nation, through the Secretariat of National Heritage, presents “Photography in national museums. Guide for its dissemination and access. Tomo I”, a publication that provides access to the photographic collection of twelve of the twenty-four national museums that have this type of heritage.

The book will be available in the libraries and archives of all national museums and other public libraries in the country.. The digital version can be consulted in the Issuu.com account of the Ministry.

“The pandemic highlighted the importance of developing cultural tools and products that facilitate public access to heritage.- Viviana Usubiaga explains, National Director of Wealth Management – In that sense, last year the completion of the first volume was prioritized, which allows us to know the descriptions of the funds of a large part of our museums from anywhere, at the same time to disseminate the provenance of albums and photographs that are of historical value, immense cultural and artistic ”.

In a first stage, the investigation included the photographic collections of twelve of the twenty-six national museums dependent on the Ministry of Culture of the Nation that include around 50 thousand photographs. The survey of the museums that will be part of the second volume is already underway.

“Each survey that is done in each museum also serves as a diagnosis. This diagnosis is key in the elaboration of specific cultural policies regarding conservation., cataloging and access”, explains Usubiaga.

Many of these museums house images produced by authors who are part of the history of Argentine photography and also examples of ancient processes such as daguerreotypes., ferrotipos, ambrotypes or albumin copies, which give an account of the technical evolution of the medium since its inception.

Between the pieces, The portraits of the writer Ricardos Rojas and his wife taken by the Witcomb studio stand out, which is kept in the Museo Rojas. Meanwhile, the Miter Museum has under custody one of the most important collections in the country. In the American Library there are the Historical Photographic Albums that give an account of the process of construction of the Nation State as such. The album of Photographic Views of the Railroad from Buenos Aires to the Pacific of 1884, performed by Samuel Boote, and the Album of Views of La Plata since its foundation (1882-1884), made by Tomás Bradley are some of them. This institution also houses a number of 10 loose album covers from the Paraguayan War, of which six correspond to the Uruguayan study Bate & Co.

From the Sarmiento Natal House, In San Juan, the albumin Sarmiento lying in bed of 1888, signed by Manuel de San Martín. The National Museum of the Jesuit Ranch in Córdoba, meanwhile, preserves photographs in stereoscopic format of country scenes and within the room from the end of the 19th century; the Historic House of Tucumán has in its custody the famous photographs taken by Ángel Paganelli. This photographer of Italian origin began working in Tucumán around 1865 and made the only existing record of the original facade of the house. This document served for the reconstruction of the building in 1943 task that was entrusted to the architect Mario José Buschiazzo.

The History of Costume Museum has fashion photographs, of shops and businesses such as Casa Muro, San Miguel or La Casa Marilú, collections from important couturiers such as Austrian designer Fridl Loos. An album of the signature Henriette also stands out, which includes portraits of their clients with their wedding dresses.

The collection of daguerreotypes of the National Historical Museum is one of the most important in the country. Includes portraits and views of the city of Buenos Aires, like the view of the Fort of Buenos Aires (c.1853), the only image of the Cabildo porteño made by Charles DeForest Fredricks and 113 portraits of people of great historical relevance such as the governor of the province of Salta, Miguel Otero, performed by John Bennet of 1845 (as far as the oldest daguerreotype taken in the country is known). The daguerreotype of Saint Martin made in Paris in 1848 of unknown authorship, Between the 12 portrayed women is the portrait of "Manuelita" of 1844-46 attributed to John Elliot and that of María Sánchez de Mendeville, Thompson's widow 1854 made by Antonio Pozzo.

Photography in national museums. Guide for its dissemination and access. Volume I is a project co-managed by the National Directorate of Asset Management and the National Directorate of Museums, with the aim of expanding public access to museums, their collections, your files and other assets that are part of our heritage.