Cruelty and pain: the case of the vagabond children in Sergio Larraín’s work
Abstract
The article discusses on the principles of pain and cruelty in Sergio Larraín’s work as aesthetic phenomenon, inherent to self-recognition. This study considers Susan Sontag’s theory regarding the pain of others to explain how cruelty – or the assimilation of it – humanises our place in the world. The discussion analyses the Vagabond Children series and the impact in the contemporary society – one of the Larraín’s most renowned work. Additionally, the analysis of visual narrative reveals symbols and themes that evidences an ambivalence in the critique of the subject: author’s subjectivities on one side and photography’s truth claim on the other, regarding how Chile’s poverty has been portrayed.Keywords:
Sergio Larraín, Photografy, Aesthetic, Pain, CrueltyAuthor Biography
Jean Paul Brandt, Universidad de Glasgow
