Alessandra Sanguinetti
Alessandra Sanguinetti is best known for a project that began with two girls and continued for more than twenty years. She photographed cousins Belinda and Guillermina in rural Argentina from childhood into adulthood, staying in their lives as they grew and changed.
Sanguinetti was born in New York in 1968 but grew up in Argentina, where she lived from 1970. She studied anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires before studying photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her interest in people, family, animals, and rural life became central to her work.
Sanguinetti was born in New York in 1968 but grew up in Argentina, where she lived from 1970. She studied anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires before studying photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her interest in people, family, animals, and rural life became central to her work.
Alessandra Sanguinetti
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«Photography has always been a way of paying respect and honouring».
In 1996, she began On the Sixth Day, a project about animals on farms outside Buenos Aires. Horses, pigs, chickens, and cows appear alongside the people who care for them. The photographs show everyday farm life, including work, birth, illness, and death.
While working on the series, Sanguinetti met two young cousins, Belinda and Guillermina, who lived on nearby farms. She first planned to photograph them for a short period. Instead, she kept coming back as they grew up.
While working on the series, Sanguinetti met two young cousins, Belinda and Guillermina, who lived on nearby farms. She first planned to photograph them for a short period. Instead, she kept coming back as they grew up.
The project became The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, published in 2010. The girls played dress-up, invented characters, and created their own stories for the camera. Their games often mixed with real events from their lives.
Sanguinetti continued photographing them through their teenage years and into adulthood. The second book, The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, follows them from around 14 to 24. The photographs gradually move from childhood games to relationships, pregnancy, motherhood, and adult responsibilities.
Sanguinetti continued photographing them through their teenage years and into adulthood. The second book, The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, follows them from around 14 to 24. The photographs gradually move from childhood games to relationships, pregnancy, motherhood, and adult responsibilities.
«I never left them. It’ll be a work in progress until the end of our lives».
As the two women changed, their photographs changed too. They began to lead separate lives, and the project became a record of that separation as much as their friendship. Sanguinetti was no longer photographing children playing at being adults. She was photographing two women dealing with real choices and consequences.
Her long relationship with the women is an important part of the work. Sanguinetti was not an outsider arriving to document a rural family. After years of returning to the same places, she became a familiar person in their lives, and that trust shaped the photographs.
Her long relationship with the women is an important part of the work. Sanguinetti was not an outsider arriving to document a rural family. After years of returning to the same places, she became a familiar person in their lives, and that trust shaped the photographs.
Sanguinetti has also worked outside Argentina and contributed photographs to publications including The New York Times Magazine, LIFE, Newsweek, and New York Magazine. She joined Magnum Photos in 2007.
In recent years, Sanguinetti has also been publicly involved in the subject of Palestine and Gaza, both through her photography and her outspoken views on the conflict.
Much of Sanguinetti's work comes from staying with the same people and subjects for years. She does not need a dramatic event to build a story. She follows ordinary lives as they change, sometimes in ways that neither she nor the people she photographs could have expected.
In recent years, Sanguinetti has also been publicly involved in the subject of Palestine and Gaza, both through her photography and her outspoken views on the conflict.
Much of Sanguinetti's work comes from staying with the same people and subjects for years. She does not need a dramatic event to build a story. She follows ordinary lives as they change, sometimes in ways that neither she nor the people she photographs could have expected.