William Fitzgibbon
1860
Portrait of indigenous Guatemalans

Albumen print
6 x 7 1/2 in (15.2 x 19 cm)
 
Swann Galleries - New York
Courtesy of Swann Galleries (Auction, Oct 15, 2007, #2124, Lot 49)
 
Although photographers were active in Central America as early as 1843, very few of the photographs taken before 1875 survive today.
 
William Fitzgibbon and his better-known brother John, a prominent American daguerreotypist, operated a studio in Guatemala in the late 1850s-early 1860s. In addition to photographing the people and architecture of Guatamala City, which is the subject of these prints, they also photographed Quetzaltenango and Antigua.
 
LL/23153