Jim Dow, a professor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, has been photographing Buenos Aires since the 1980s and Mexico City since early 2000. His current exhibit, on view at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, consists of a series of photographs taken during several of his numerous trips to Latin America.
"Capital Architectures (Buenos Aires/ Mexico City)" captures a different view of Latin America than the expected smattering of political strife, poverty, tropical beauty and chaos. Dow's photographs offer intimate and personal views of these two mega-cities of Latin America. Interior spaces and details not only define and identify each location, but also demonstrate the connections between the traditions of the past and the perpetually modernizing forces at play in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
The photographs are located on the second floor of the Center for Latin American Studies, along a stretch of wall nestled between offices and other rooms. Though the Center seems like a natural place to display such thematic pieces, the strength of the visual progression gets lost among supply closets and the sounds of conference calls. These photos of fútbol stadiums, religious shrines, highways and shop interiors are less powerful when placed above filing cabinets.
The somewhat strange venue for these photos, however, is not enough to take away from their meaning. The most striking thing about Dow's photos is the way that he captures interior spaces that connote moments of solitude and respite. It's almost as if these spaces are alive and aware of the staring eyes of the viewer, giving us permission to temporarily enter the space and absorb what they have to offer.
The vibrancy of these color photos and sharp detail convey a sense of frankness and forcefulness not expected from photos that, for the most part, lack people. "Capital Architectures" does not aim to capture the architecture of structural buildings in a literal sense, though the beauty of the material spaces enhances some of the photos. Dow constructs the architecture of Buenos Aires and Mexico City by presenting the viewer with images that assert each as a distinct place, with its own identity.
The pieces complement one another; they are often shown in pairs that depict similar scenes from each respective city. For example, "Living Room, Private House, La Herradura, Estado de Mexico" (2006) and "Living Room, Esperanza, Santa Fe" (1997) are both photos of interiors of homes, one decidedly Mexican and the other is Argentinean.
The first piece is an image of a colorful sofa with floral patterns and bright colors that brings to mind Mexican shawls. A stylized portrait of the Virgin leans against the end of the sofa, asserting this space as Mexican. In contrast, "Living Room, Esperanza, Santa Fe" (1997) reflects the European design influences found in the décor of this Buenos Aires home, with its high ceilings, dark woods and minimalist furniture.
These comparisons show the differences and similarities between the cities, but also describe the push and pull between the modern advancements of contemporary society and the traditional past in which these cities are deeply rooted.
These signs and vestiges of the past appear in nearly every photo in this collection, either as a shrine to a religious figure or as a run-down mural of Eva Perón. This strange dichotomy between the modern and the old creates dynamism, not only in Dow's work, but also in the culture that he aims to capture.
It is this type of detail that causes the viewer to reassess his or her perception of life in the modernizing world of Latin America. One of the most intriguing images in this work-in progress collection is "Mannequin Factory, Centro Histórico, Distrito Federal" (2005). In this image, light from the open window diffuses the interior of a mannequin shop in which several naked mannequin forms are arranged in the foreground. Pictures of old fashion magazines adorn the walls and a worktable in the background is strewn with tools and objects.
The scene is somewhat nostalgic as one can imagine the type of people who work in this old shop with peeling wallpaper and faded magazine covers. A closer look, however, reveals a modern day commodity: a plastic soda bottle hides among the myriad of objects on the worktable, a prevailing sign of life in the 21st century situated in a rich past.
Dow's photographs introduce viewers to the poignant differences between Argentinean and Mexican culture through the aesthetic characteristics specific to each flourishing metropolis.
