The last good-bye. Avellaneda, province of Buenos Aires. 1938.

Without a doubt, a true iconographic find in Otero's work; one of the early photographs of him from the '30s. Silver gelatin photographic paper -"Agfa" brand-, in postcard format -8,5 x 13.5 cm / 3.34 x 5.31 in- in black and white emulsion and glossy texture, with a thin white edge and saw-type cut. The image includes on the right side a vertical legend -preceded by the cross- written on the same negative; in each one -he did it like this- and in the handwriting of Otero himself, it reads: "Adolfo J. Quintans. 23 years old - 9/24/1938". It is preserved in a white allegorical folder -19 x 11.5 cm / 7.48 x 4.52 in-, on whose cover is printed a Crucified Christ in a soft gold tone and the advertising of his house.

This is a classic example of so-called "courtship photography”. The relatives accompany the loved one towards his last resting place. The scene on a cold September morning is moving, one can see the severe procession and the coffin located on a luxurious carriage; White-gloved funeral home employees lead the funeral parade. With good judgment Pedro Otero scanned the compact crowd from a certain height.

Much has been written about the life and work of the remembered Pedro Otero (Avellaneda: 1913 - 1981) and always in his condition of absolute reference of Argentine artistic photography of the mid-twentieth century. As a draftsman, painter, photographer and even sculptor, this son of a carpenter and cabinetmaker, employee of the La Negra and La Blanca refrigerators, also stood out from a very young age for his political and social militancy and for his unbridled love for proletarian culture, of which he was a part through his clear identification as: "Pedro Otero de Avellaneda".

In that popular neighborhood "Perico" he developed from his childhood a special affection for that simple work community; towards March 1927 he finally became an apprentice at the Photographic Studio run by Don Adolfo Yusif with a partner; He started like this and with only 13 years in the practice of a profession that he would embrace with passion for the rest of his life. In parallel, he also studied painting and drawing in night classes to finally enter the National School of Decorative Art.

From a very young age and with a camera on his shoulder, he ventured into graphic journalism in well-known Avellaneda newspapers such as "La Libertad" and "La Ciudad"; and he also collaborated in the Buenos Aires evening "Noticias Gráficas" -of national circulation-, whose photographic display was notable at the time.

Around 1943 came the dreamed opening of his own photographic house on the corner of 25 de Mayo and Avenida Miter, an obligatory meeting point for artists and intellectuals. Little less than a decade later he made his first solo exhibition entitled "My photos" and in 1955 he inaugurated the exhibition "Photography and music", the great series that established him nationally and internationally. The German company Agfa hired him as a technical advisor.

By Abel Alexander

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

Bibliography:

- Jeanmart, Feliciano: Pedro Otero - Photography and Music. Agfa Gallery Catalog. April 7/30, 1997. Buenos Aires. 1997.

- Medail, Francisco: Between Colón and Avellaneda there are barely twenty minutes apart. Tribute Artist Pedro Otero. BAphoto. Buenos Aires. 2021.

- Otero, Osvaldo: The work of Pedro Otero. In "History of Photography". Memory of the 8th National Congress and 3rd Latin American Congress on the History of Photography. "Vicente López (Buenos Aires). 2003.

- Otero, Pedro: Four by four head on - Memories. Editorial Suburbio. Sarandí (Buenos Aires). nineteen eighty one