An Aymara photographer, Damián Ayma Zepita traveled across the Bolivian highlands, documenting decisive decades in the country’s history. The period following the Chaco War, with the National Revolution (1952) and the Coup d'État (1964), had a profound impact on Indigenous populations, as well as the labor of peasants and miners—recurring subjects in his work.
Ayma captured popular festivities in various rural towns. Thanks to his work, we can now glimpse the costumes, masks, performances, and dances of carnivals, religious festivities, and harvest celebrations in the mid-20th century in the region. Like a true visual anthropologist, he traveled from pueblo to pueblo in the Andes for nearly fifty years, producing images. The intimacy displayed by his subjects reflects the trust he inspired—not only because he was deeply familiar with Quechua and Aymara cultures but also because his connection to his own origins made it clear that photography was his contribution to ayni, a term in those cultures that refers to the notions of reciprocity and mutualism among Andean peoples.
Anelise De Carli
Damián Ayma Zepita (Bolivia, 1921-1999) was a talented photographer and ethnographer known for his contributions to documenting Andean cultures. Ayma Zepita used his lens to capture cultural practices, festivals, and daily dynamics of Andean communities and the diverse environments in which he lived. His collection, now preserved by the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore (MUSEF), has more than 18,000 photographs that portray the life and customs of Andean and mining communities.
