Negative Originals

Race and Early Photography in Colombia

Juanita Solano Roa

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English

Duke University Press
12 September 2025

History of Art & Design Styles; Photography & photographs; History of the Americas; Ethnic studies

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century MedellÍn, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of FotografÍa RodrÍguez and BenjamÍn de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography’s role, Solano Roa shifts the critic’s eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form’s material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America’s most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

By: Juanita Solano Roa
Imprint: Duke University Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 445g
ISBN: 9781478031994
ISBN 10: 1478031999
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 12 September 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Juanita Solano Roa is Associate Professor in the Department of Art History at the Universidad de los Andes, BogotÁ.

Reviews for Negative Originals: Race and Early Photography in Colombia

""It is rare to encounter books about the history of photography in Colombia, and even rarer to find one that engages the construction of raced identity in a sophisticated and nuanced way. Everyone should read this book!""--Geoffrey Batchen, author of Negative/Positive: A History of Photography ""Providing a rich portrait of a vibrant and little-known photographic culture in Medellín, Colombia, Juanita Solano Roa shows how photography was central to the formation of both modern and subversive identities and attitudes. Solano Roa's use of the negative as a metaphor for a 'reversed' photography and history is original and exciting, as she demonstrates that the photographic negative is a capacious resource. Her argumentative subtlety, systematic theoretical underpinnings, and nuanced reading of images make for an excellent book.""--Christopher Pinney, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Visual Culture, University College London