Photography on the borders of audiovisual hypertrophy. Interview with Daniel Vargas

Abstract

The extensive universe of audiovisual heritage covers various areas. One of them focuses on the preservation of photographic collections. The exponential increase in the production of images, derived from access to new technologies, has led to their mass use in terms of distribution and consumption. This scenario invites us to reflect on the role that photographic documentary collections play in the (re)construction of a collective memory, both in a diachronic and synchronic sense. The case of the Photography Archive Museum, located in the heart of Mexico City, is a space conceived as a repository of a visual memory that shows the transformations of a convulsive and culturally complex capital. In this interview, the visual anthropologist Daniel Vargas (current director of this institution), addresses not only the challenges involved in maintaining a collection consisting of just over two million images in optimal conditions, but also its impact on the construction of a collective memory.