Valparaíso
Sergio Larrain
Chilean photographer Sergio Larrain (1931 – 2012) published very few books during his lifetime. Yet he produced two of the most seductive photobooks to emerge from Latin America: El Rectángulo en la mano (The Rectangle in the Hand) and Valparaíso. He’s best known for his street photography and use of shadow and angles in a way few had tried before.
In the early 1960s Sergio Larrain returned to his homeland after travelling the world for many years as a Magnum photographer. From that moment the Chilean seaport Valparaíso became a focus for his attention. He saw it as a rather sordid yet romantic city. Falling into a slow decline as its trading importance faded away. Yet still retaining hints of beauty and magic.
Larrain’s sea port, like his photography, is best when lights are low, and the city’s larger-then-life characters tend to make their appearance. He is clearly fascinated by the raffish nature of any great sea port. Giving us sailors, bars, brothels, prostitutes and gangsters. Shot in the most seductive stream-of-consciousness style: blurred, grainy, angular and using the frame edges superbly well.
The book is originally published in 1991 in French. Now there is a new English edition, first published in 2017 and reprinted in 2025. Basis for this new edition is a layout that Larrain designed in 1993, after the publication of the French edition. It also includes a selection of previous unpublished photographs taken between 1952 and 1992. Expanding the original 36 images to a total of 120. The book features handwritten notes and texts by the artist himself, in which he shows his view of the world.
In 1972 Larrain retreated from public and professional life to live in a Chilean mountain village, taking up meditation. He continued to make personal photography, including that of the port of Valparaíso.
Valparaíso
Photographer: Sergio Larrain
Orginally published in 1991.
English edition by Thames & Hudson
Published in 2017 reprinted in 2025
Hardback, 17,5cm x 24,4 cm, 120 illustrations, 210 pages
Texts by Pablo Neruda and Agnès Sire
Shortlisted for the 2017 Historical Book Award at the Les Rencontres de la Photographie Festival in Arles
Considered as one of the greatest photobooks of all time by Source Magazine
Mentioned in The Photobook: A History, Volume 2 edited by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger