Justo Pastor Mellado writes about Los nómadas del mar, the selection of photographs taken by Paz Errázuriz. The text is divided into four sections, beginning with comments on the artist’s work as a whole, which Pastor Mellado believes can be characterized by “the refined singularity of her point of view.” He goes on to review Errázuriz’s series, explaining that her photography is neither humanitarian nor humanist, but creates a tension based on a “filial breakup” between the two. In the second section he ignores the analysis of the photographs and instead focuses on the colonizing effects of the Chilean government in recent years in which it maintained a traditional lifestyle; he also mentions Martín Gusinde’s role in taking photographs during that time. In the third section, Mellado discusses Errázuriz’s work in terms of the concept of “intra-colonialism,” pondering how this series of photographs might provide physiognomic maps that were resistant to “humanitarian wretchedness.” In the final section, Mellado describes how the exhibition is presented.  

El nomadismo fotográfico de Paz Errázuriz (1997) is a text that art critic and curator Justo Pastor Mellado (b. 1949) wrote about Los nómadas del mar, the series of photographs by photographer Paz Errázuriz (b. 1944). The text was published in The nomads of the sea, a catalogue that was published for the traveling exhibition while it was at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile (1996). The exhibit was also shown at the Artspace-Visual Arts (Sydney, 1998) and the Centre for Contemporary Photography (Melbourne, 1998); the Yokohama Museum of Art (Japan, 1999), and at the Casa Azul del Arte, Punta Arenas (Chile, 2002).

Writing plays an important role in Paz Errázuriz’s work, and she has coproduced books with several writers, including: La manzana de Adán [Adam’s Apple] (1990) with cultural journalist Claudia Donoso (b. 1955); El infarto del alma [The Heart Attack of the Soul] with writer Diamela Eltit (b. 1949), and La luz que me ciega [The Light That Blinds Me] with poet Malú Urriola (b. 1967). Errázuriz’s lengthy career and extensive range of works earned her the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas (2017), the highest artistic honor bestowed by the Chilean government.  

Errázuriz’s photographs of different social groups have earned her a reputation as a photographer of marginalized groups whose aesthetic is inspired by life on the edge. Mellado disagrees with that characterization and suggests that her photographs capture the precarious existence of people living on the fringes of society, such as transgender people (on the fringes of simulation and sexual orientation), the mentally ill (on the fringes of reason), circus people (on the periphery of entertainment), boxers (on the borders of physical sacrifice), etc. Mellado therefore claims that Errázuriz’s style of photography is unique. Not only because of where she directs her gaze, but because of the different ways in which her photographs are used. In addition to the books she has produced, her exhibitions do not always follow traditional guidelines; in the case of Nómadas del mar, for example, she silkscreened some of her pieces and projected others, which Mellado discusses in detail. She has also used photocopies on occasion.