Camilo jose vergara biography for kids

Chilean photographer

Camilo José Vergara (born 1944 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean-born, New York-based writer, photographer and documentarian.

Vergara has been compared to Jacob Riis^[1][2] for his photographic documentation of American slums and decaying urban environments.

Beginning in the 1980s, Vergara applied the technique of rephotography to a series of American cities, photographing the same buildings and neighborhoods from the exact vantage point at regular intervals over many years to capture changes over time.

Trained as a sociologist with a specialty in urbanism, Vergara turned to his systematic documentation at a moment of urban decay, and he chose locales where that stress seemed highest: the housing projects of Chicago; the South Bronx of New York City; Camden, New Jersey; and Detroit, Michigan, among others.

Education

Vergara received a B.A. (1968) in sociology from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. (1977)