28/02/2024
Claudia Andujar: A Life Dedicated to Photography and Human Rights
Claudia Andujar is a Brazilian photographer of Swiss origin, born in 1931 in Neuchâtel. Her life and work have been strongly influenced by her commitment to human rights and the defense of indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon.After leaving Switzerland with her mother during World War II and initially moving to the United States to live with her uncle, the only surviving member of her paternal family from the Holocaust, she then moved to Brazil in 1955 where she began to cultivate her love for photography. However, it was during a trip to the Amazon in the 1970s that her career took a significant turn.
During this journey, she encountered the Yanomami, an indigenous people of the Amazon, radically changing her perspective and mission. She began to document the life of the Yanomami not only as an artistic exercise but also as an active commitment to protect their culture and territory. Her photographs were not just a record of their daily life but also an act of activism, showing the beauty of Yanomami culture and the threats they faced such as deforestation and conflicts over natural resources.
Andujar was active in defending the rights of the Yanomami, working with non-governmental organizations and pressuring the Brazilian government to protect indigenous lands and ensure their rights. In 1978, she contributed to the founding of the Commission for the Creation of the Yanomami Park and in 1992 the Yanomami's right to land was recognized.
In 2020, the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo hosted a retrospective of her work, recognizing its impact on documentary photography and human rights movements. Now, the exhibition "The End of the World" at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, from February 8 to August 11, further celebrates her work.
At over ninety years old, Claudia Andujar continues to be a powerful voice for the voiceless, demonstrating that photography can be a tool for change and social justice.
Online editorial staff