Paillet, Fernando

He was born in 1880 in Esperanza, Santa Fe Province (Argentina). From his teenage years, he dedicated himself to photography, and by 1898 he was already working as an operator at Estudio Luster, the most important studio in the province. At the beginning of the century, he established his own studio in Esperanza, where he worked until 1950. He led an active cultural life as a musician and playwright, although his main dedication was photography, becoming the most well-known photographer in his small town of Swiss-French settlers. His work has great historical and sociological documentary value, as he focused on portraying families, town workers, public events, social happenings, and gathering places. He was tasked with forming a Historical Museum of Esperanza and a Museum of Fine Arts with works by local creators. He began the project with his nephew Rogelio Imhoff and amassed an important archive. The project was halted by bureaucratic obstacles, leading Paillet into a deep depression, which drove him to destroy eighty percent of the accumulated material. He also prohibited the use of part of his archive even after his death. On the centenary of his birth, Luis Príamo organized an exhibition with sixty of his best works, the result of significant research efforts. The exhibition has continued to be successfully displayed in various Argentine and Latin American cities. He died in 1967 in Esperanza.