Horacio Ochoa photographs of Peruvian sites and monuments, 1920-1959

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Summary

Creators:
Ochoa, Horacio
Abstract:
The collection contains photographs by Horacio Ochoa of monumental natural and built environments in Peru. The photographs were used by Daniel Ruzo in his research on Peruvian protohistory. Many of the images depict the sacred places or large sacred objects known as huacas. Included are the sites of Antabamba, Sayhuite (Saywite), Machu Picchu, Anghas Marka, Huiñay Huayna(Wiñay Wayna), and Moray.
Extent:
29 photographic prints (2 boxes)
Language:
Collection material is in Spanish; Castilian.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains photographs of monumental natural and built environments used by Daniel Ruzo in his research on Peruvian protohistory. Many of the images depict the sacred places or large sacred objects known as huacas. Included are the sites of Antabamba (1), Sayhuite (Saywite) (15), Machu Picchu (2), Anghas Marka (3), Huiñay Huayna(Wiñay Wayna) (2), and Moray (4).

The photographs from the sanctuary of Sayhuite include the stone altars and shrines of Rumihuasi, hewn from large boulders, as well as views and details of the Piedra de Sayhuite. A massive, irregularly shaped boulder with intricate relief carvings on its upper surface, the stone contains an idealized landscape of canals, terraces, paths, buildings, humans, and wide variety of animals, representing the various ecological zones that were part of the Inca Empire. Included are details of canals, terraces, and pumas.

Four panoramic photographs depict the agricultural terraces of Moray in the Sacred Valley, Cuzco. A fifth image of terracing is of Antabamba. There is also a panoramic view of the ruins at Anghas Marka.

Also included are two photographs that show post-conquest alterations to Inca monuments: the first, a view of the Coricancha temple in Cuzco with the Convent of Santo Domingo built atop it, and the second, a rock-hewn doorway into which carved wooden doors have been inserted.

The photographs were printed in the 1940s or 1950s from negatives made in the 1920s and 1930s.

Annotations are transcribed as they appear on the versos of the photographs, and are in pencil, unless otherwise noted. Titles of individual images are taken from these annotations, unless otherwise noted.

Arrangement

Arranged in a single series: Series I. Horacio Ochoa photographs of Peruvian sites and monuments, 1920-1959.

Biographical / historical:

The Peruvian photographer Horacio Ochoa (1905-1978) was born in San Sebastián, Cusco. He studied with José Gabriel González and became one of the most prominent practitioners of the Cusco School. Active from 1928 to 1964, Ochoa was known for his architectural and landscape views of ancient cities and colonial monuments. In addition to running his own photography studio he also worked for the Peruvian Policía Nacional documenting political and union leaders.

Daniel Ruzo (1900-1991) was a Peruvian lawyer, poet and writer, and archaeologist known for his studies of the occult sciences, especially Nostradamus, and protohistory. He theorized that an ancient culture, destroyed by a catalclysmic event, perhaps the Biblical Noachian flood, had once existed in Central and South America. Ruzo suggested that the Masma, as he called this culture and its people, were the American survivors of a once-worldwide primordial culture. Ruzo was a thirty-third degree Mason and member of the Subud spiritual movement. Born in Lima, Peru, later in life Ruzo moved to Rio de Janiero before eventually settling in Cuernavca, Mexico.

Acquisition information:
Acquired in 2006.
Physical location:
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Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
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