 |
| Adolfo Pérez Esquivel |
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (born November 26, 1931) is an
Argentine activist, community organizer, art painter, writer and sculptor. He
was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to
Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983), during which he was
detained, tortured, and held without trial for 14 months; during that period he
also received, among other distinctions, the Pope John XXIII Peace Memorial.
Wikipedia
The key word in the above reference from Wikipedia is
activist. In Argentina, my place of birth, we prefer militante. The word has no
connection with the more violent English equivalent militant. An Argentine
militant does not tote guns. An Argentine militant is steadfast in his/her
beliefs and acts but usually avoids violence.
Some years ago Pérez Esquivel came to town and I was able
to snap 10 exposures. My favourite had him smiling at my camera.
Yesterday was the last day for me to get all my
photographs ready and give them to Nora Patrich who was on her way to Buenos
Aires today. We are having a joint show at the Galería Vermeer on September 20.
Somehow my portrait of Pérez Esquivel was to wishy-washy. He doesn’t look very
militante in it. Then at the last possible moment, yesterday in the afternoon I
spotted the 7th exposure.
Now I feel that my photographs for our show will be
balanced and its Argentine contents just fine.