Cámera anegada [Flooded Chamber]

In the early 1970s, Argentina went through a turbulent political period marked by increasing violence which led to a repressive military dictatorship. Although Héctor Giuffré was not a militant, this realist painter was determined to “transfer his era to the canvas,” proposing that his works be considered as “brief battles hanging upon the walls.” To that end, he created a series of portraits of popular archetypes, including labor leaders, workers, and Indigenous figures.  

In 1975, while walking in downtown Buenos Aires, Giuffré serendipitously observed and photographed a telephone worker going down a manhole ladder, which he later described as witnessing “the image of Faust descending into hell.” In Cámara anegada, the artist turned this worker into the ill-fated character German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe created, seeking “to portray the essence of the human soul, summarizing its feelings, emotions and passions.” This would be Giuffré’s last archetypal “portrait.” Only the worker’s forehead and haunting eyes are visible as he descends the ladder. The other uncanny elements—the sagging red banner covering an unnerving mass like a body bag; the large tarp ominously concealing something in the background—suggest the very real dangers lying just beneath the surface in an Argentina on the brink of crisis.