To photograph, forget and develop it.

Regarding analogical practices and surrealist methodologies.

Abstract

The field experience in Buenos Aires revealed a striking absence: I sought a writer who debuted there 80 years ago, but her books were missing from bookstores, her photographs absent from establishments she frequented with modernist avant-garde companions, and few people recognized her name. Field notes and photographs seemed inadequate to engage with this elusive figure. Only through the revelation of photographic negatives could I return to the field with the potential to document absence. Addressing a surrealist author, I incorporated into my research methods aligned with the movement, including image-text interaction, montage processes, and the use of photography. This article examines the tensions in methodologies at the onset of the research, intertwining Buenos Aires with the elusive presence of María Luisa Bombal. The research navigates distinct temporalities through the analog machine and engages with an artist haunted by the specter of oblivion. Ultimately, the process reconfigures absence as a mode of engagement.