Raota, Pedro Luis

When he was very young, he abandoned his plan to study law and acquired his first notions of photography in the city of Santa Fe, where he also made a living taking passport photos. Later, he moved to Villaguay in Entre Ríos, where he did his military service and learned techniques from the photographer Quique Fabra. In Villaguay, he won his first awards. He then exhibited in Buenos Aires and began sending his creations to all the exhibitions he could. In 1966, he won First Prize in a photography contest organized by Mundo Hispánico, a magazine from Madrid (Spain), with the theme Life and Customs of the Argentine Gaucho. This was the first significant award outside the country, despite having already been sending his photos to various International Salons without much luck.

In 1967, at the same time as the Cannes Film Festival, a photographic exhibition titled Unusual Photographs was held. Out of 2500 participants from around the world, he won second prize. From 1968 onwards, the awards and trophies he received began to multiply: the Condor Trophy from the Argentine Federation of Photography, the First Biennial of Photography in Monza, First Prize with his work Drama. That same year, he received awards in Mondovi (Italy), Johannesburg, London, Turin, and Reims. In 1968, he won the SIP Mergenthaler Prize from the International Press Society, which he won for the second consecutive year the following year. In 1969, he received the most important award of his career: Best Photojournalist in the World, awarded in The Hague, which gave him the opportunity to travel to Europe to receive it. In 1969, he won first prizes in Australia, Austria, England, France, Italy, and Spain. In 1970, he won the Golden Seagull Prize at the World Photography Contest in Lisbon, and at the Hong Kong International Photography Salon, he won First Prize for three consecutive years: 1971, 1972, and 1973. He also won First Prize for three consecutive years at the World Photography Salon in Singapore: 1971, 1972, and 1973, and First Prize at the International Photographic Art Salon in London.

In 1972, he won the Georges Pompidou Trophy in Paris, and also the Charles Kingsley Trophy at the World Photography Contest in New York, which he won again in 1976. In 1974, he won a very important award, obtaining the PRAVDA-74 in Moscow, which allowed him to tour the Soviet Union for 45 days. At the end of 1974, he won, among others, the First Prize at the Bangkok International Salon. In 1975, he won First Prize at the Salons of Southampton and Wilmington (United States), and the Gold Medal at the International Journalism Photography Salon. In Europe, he won the most important prize of the year by achieving the EUROPE-75 World Biennial. In 1976, he won first prizes in Maitland (Australia), Rochester (United States), Paris, San Francisco, and First Prize at the Kleuren, Morstel Festival (Belgium). That year, the major event was the request for his works to be included in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Lonwieu Museum in Texas. In 1977, he won First Prize at the Washington DC International Photojournalism Salon, and his first book was published under the title Pedro Luis Raota, compiling his most important photographs since his early days. This book was published in five languages. In 1978, he won in Newcastle (Australia) and Reims (France), where he exhibited as an honored guest, and the National Library of Paris included a collection of 60 works in its permanent gallery. In 1979, he won First Prize at the Rosario International Salon and the Buenos Aires Salon in Argentina and served as an International Jury member deciding the awards in Edinburgh. That year, his first Portfolio titled Typical Argentine Images was also released, including a series of characteristic images of his country. In 1980, a collection of his works toured Italy in successive exhibitions, and the same happened in Belgium.