Abstract
Visibility and the written record have often been linked to power, with marginalized groups frequently finding their histories either underrepresented or mediated by dominant institutions. This research challenges conventional art histories by examining the visual culture of prostitutes in La Paz, Bolivia, from 1910 to 1940. Although prostitution was legal in Bolivia, sex workers were required to register for health inspections, leading to regular visits by officers to ensure compliance. However, these interactions often resulted in extortion and abuse. These images highlight the tension between visibility and invisibility, as some prostitutes sought to avoid registration and, by extension, control. By analyzing these photographs alongside written accounts of local prostitutes in early twentieth-century La Paz, this study questions the conventional understanding of visibility as power, instead proposing that invisibility could serve as a form of resistance. The presence and absence of photographs tell a contested history, where women’s bodies were simultaneously commodified and criminalized. While foreign prostitutes, who worked in regulated brothels, faced stricter governmental control due to their fixed locations, local prostitutes of lower social classes operated more independently in bars and cantinas, making them harder to track and less frequently documented. This study argues that invisibility can be a potent tool for agency, challenging traditional notions that equate visibility with empowerment. By exploring what is both seen and unseen in these photographs, we gain deeper insights into the strategy’s women employed to assert their independence and autonomy, and the ways in which visual culture reflects and shapes societal norms.
Presenters
Luciana Natalia Molina BarragánStudent, Ph.D., Universidad Iberoamericana en la Ciudad de Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico
