Pasaje Bavestrello, Valparaíso, Chile, 1952

Nowadays, the Pasaje Bavestrello is full of graffiti; it looks rather run down; there is no magic in the air. Even seventy years ago, it took the well-trained eye of a photographer to turn an unassuming urban corner into an iconic image. Beyond doubt, Sergio Larrain succeeded in doing so with his picture of two girls on the steps of the Pasaje Bavestrello. It was midday in Valparaiso, and the year was 1952. Once again, the photographer was out and about looking for motifs. At the top of one of the series of steps that wander down through the city, he paused: a girl in a bright dress, her dark hair cut short, is descending the stairs. She is holding a glass bottle in her right hand. Did he speak to her and ask her to stand still? What a coincidence that, at that precise moment, a second girl walks past him – also in a light-coloured dress and with a bottle in her hand. Are they twins, or is it simply chance? The photographer did not hesitate, but quickly raised his Leica to take just one picture of the mysterious doppelgänger. It was to become one of his best-known pictures. For the photographer, however, that moment represented something far greater: “It was the first magical photo that came my way,” Larrain would say. “Something like that only happens in Valparaiso.”

It is the special atmosphere, combining suspended spontaneity and cohesive composition, that gives the motif its uniqueness to this day. The areas of light and shadow; the open spaces and the surface structures; and, above all, the lines that run through the picture. All these elements build up the image and create a condensed, almost stage-like, composition. The longer you look at the motif, the more details emerge. Larrain photographed the perfect excerpt from the best possible perspective, turning a mundane scene into a timeless moment. This approach became typical for the photographer: as he quietly strolled around, he managed, time and again, to filter a masterpiece out of the banal reality of everyday life on the streets of the city.

Sergio Larrain was at the beginning of his photographic career when the picture shown here was taken. A few years later, he was to continue his work in London and Paris, before returning to Chile in 1960. Larrain had already begun to develop an interest in meditation and spiritual matters in the fifties, and these concerns were to define the second half of his life. During that time he found creative fulfilment in painting, in writing and in practising yoga. He also gradually withdrew from the public eye, until passing away in 2012. It is only in recent decades that his work has been comprehensively presented and exhibited, making it an oeuvre that is still open to discovery. (Ulrich Rüter)

In commemoration of his 90th birthday, the latest issue 8/2021 of LFI carries a portfolio of his best pictures.