"Absence" is a powerful photo project about the victims of repression during the military dictatorship

Photographer Gustavo Germano dedicated a photo project to people who disappeared without a trace from the face of the earth in Argentina and Brazil. Gustavo talks about those black years when the military dictatorship flourished in these countries. As a basis, the photographer took pictures from the photo albums of 25 families whose lives were left with an unhealed wound of repression.

Germano reproduced scenes from the archives of different families, filming their members in the same places many years later. The difference over time immediately creates a powerful effect — there is a feeling of loneliness and sadness, since none of the 25 families remained intact.

In March 1976, a military coup and a change of power took place in Argentina — the country was headed by Jorge Videla. During his reign, 10,000 people were killed, 30,000 disappeared without a trace and another 60,000 were imprisoned for political reasons. After the change of government in 1983, Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, and there he died. By order of the new President, the National Commission on the Case of Mass Disappearance of People was founded.

Source: Gustavo Germano

1975 and 2006.

1975 and 2006.

1974 and 2006.

1966 and 2006.

1973 and 2006.

1973 and 2006.

1971 and 2006.

1973 and 2006.

1968 and 2006.

1970 and 2006.

1969 and 2006.

1970 and 2006.

1968 and 2006.

1974 and 2006.

1976 and 2006.

1970 and 2012.

During the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985), at least 434 people died as a result of repression.

1970 and 2012.

1964 and 2012.

1947 and 2012.

1967 and 2012.

1961 and 2012.

1964 and 2012.

1967 and 2012.

1969 and 2012.

1966 and 2012.