This course examines the history of Latin American photography, from early photography of the nineteenth century to contemporary conceptual tendencies. We begin with photographic representations of the local landscape and its inhabitants, continue with the establishment of the first photographic studios, and follow with the advent of modernist trends, such as surrealism and abstraction. We approach the strong documentary practice that swings from registering everyday life and autochthonous rituals, to chronicling political upheavals—as exemplified in the Mexican and Cuban revolutions— and cataloguing the “disappeared” under the military juntas of Argentina and Chile. We also explore the treatment of labor in 1970's Cuban and Brazilian photo essays, the incorporation of postmodern concepts by Latin American photographers in the 1990s, and photographic representations of narco-culture in Colombia and Mexico. We discuss critical problems such as: realism, indigenism, social commentary, propaganda, nationalism, violence, and ethics.