FAREWELL TO SARA FACIO, THE GREAT ARGENTINE PHOTOGRAPHER

The great figure of Argentine photography Sara Facio passed away in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, June 18, at the age of 92. She had an extensive career -of almost 70 years- as a photographer, curator, journalist and editor, which made her a key figure in Argentine culture.

She dedicated a large part of her life to strengthening photography as an institution in Argentina and the world, thanks to her extensive work and her constant effort to promote it within the art world. "A militancy! I always say when I am asked if I don't do militancy: yes, I am a militant of photography. Because, in addition, I am a woman, as you may have noticed. We women are always less," she said in one of the last interviews.

She also portrayed artists, writers, musicians, athletes and other personalities from Argentina and Latin America during the 20th century, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, María Elena Walsh, Astor Piazzolla, Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez, Alejandra Pizarnik and Mario Vargas Llosa.

For the 2022 edition, Pinta BAphoto paid tribute to the outstanding photographer. After decades dedicated to the institutional strengthening of photography, Sara became the most prominent figure of this medium in Argentina, with an extensive career as a photographer, curator and editor. As part of the celebrations for her 90th birthday, Pinta BAPhoto joined in 2022 with a solo exhibition focusing on her intimate life. Combining synergies with the prestigious Rolf Art gallery and curated by Francisco Medail, the tribute exhibition showed a shift in Sara's camera: leaving aside her work as a portraitist to look at herself through a set of self-portraits and her daily life with María Elena Walsh, girlfriend and companion for more than thirty years.

"In other words, it is unthinkable not to live in a state of permanent gratitude towards her figure: would it be possible for a fair specialized in photography to exist without the institutional work Sara did throughout the nineties? What museums would buy photographs if she had not fought so hard for the incorporation of this medium into their heritage collections?" wrote Francisco Medail in the curatorial text of Pinta BAphoto 2022.

From Arte al Día, we say goodbye to this great figure of Argentine photography, synonymous of passion, dedication and struggle for the recognition of photography as art. Her legacy will live in every image, reminding us of her tireless militancy and love for this medium.

Sara Facio (Buenos Aires, 1932-2024) was a photographer, curator, journalist and editor, known for her portraits of Latin American cultural figures. Since 1968 she has published more than twenty personal books; she has received awards and distinctions as a photographer and editor abroad. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of, among others, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid and in prestigious private collections. In addition, she created photography selections in the newspapers Clarín, La Nación and other specialized magazines; she directed the Photo Gallery of the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires, where she presented 160 exhibitions of world masters and beginners who are today referents; and she created the Photographic Collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Cultural Heritage. In 2011 she was named Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires and in 2014 and 2015 she exhibited Donación Sara Facio at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, with 200 works by Latin American photographers that she donated to that Argentine institution.