Old Retiro Station. Buenos Aires. Circa 1875–1890.

Vintage print. Gelatin silver print. Loose photograph. Dimensions: 17 x 27 cm. On the verso: A wet stamp with the signature "Witcomb - Buenos Aires," along with the number "18" written in graphite pencil. The work is in good condition. From the collection of photographic historian and publisher Luis Priamo.

This was the first railway station built in the Retiro area by what was then the "Buenos Aires to San Fernando Railway"—later renamed the "Buenos Aires Northern Railway"—which was eventually acquired around 1888 by the "Central Argentine Railway" (F.C. Central Argentino). The significant building—no longer in existence—was located at what is now the corner of Avenida del Libertador and Ramos Mejía. The four photographs in this collection were taken around 1876 by the renowned Portuguese photographer Christiano Junior.

The English photographer Alexander Spiers Witcomb (Winchester, 1839 – Asunción, 1905) lived and worked in Argentina for a large part of his life. His photographic studio and art gallery was one of the most prominent in the country.

Around 1878–1880, Witcomb, in partnership with Roberto Mackern, purchased the well-regarded studio that the Portuguese photographer Christiano Junior owned in Buenos Aires. From that point on, it became the premier photographic firm for Buenos Aires high society. The acquisition included C. Junior’s substantial commercial holdings—most notably his valuable archive of glass-plate negatives, which featured famous photographic views of Buenos Aires. These were all produced around 1875 using the wet-collodion negative process, with prints made on albumen paper. The four photographs presented here originate from that archive and bear the stamp of the Witcomb firm itself. 

Abel Alexander

President of the Ibero-American Society for the History of Photography