Chani, Miguel

Miguel Chani was one of the early photographers in Peru at the beginning of the century who sold postcards featuring images of local archaeological sites. It is believed that he learned photography from Thomas Penn, an Englishman who established the English Photography studio in Cuzco. Although very little is known about his life, it is said that Chani worked in Cuzco around 1900. He had several studios, named Fotografía Universal, in the cities of Cuzco, Puno, and Arequipa. His work, with original compositions, histrionic scenes, and innovative backgrounds featuring Incan motifs, shows evident ties to 19th-century photography. His studio in Cuzco was later used, first by Figueroa Aznar, and then by Martín Chambi. Chani's archives are currently being cataloged by Adelma Benavente.