Between 1918 and 1924, over four journeys to Tierra del Fuego, the German missionary Martin Gusinde became the only anthropologist who had been capable of conducting an in-depth study of the Selk’nam, Yamana, and Kawésqar. What might have remained simply a classic example of an ethnographic missionary’s journey emerges today as an unprecedented experience in the field. Martin Gusinde was deeply immersed within these societies, to the point of speaking the language and being introduced to the Hain initiation rite. The 1 200 photographs he brought back with him constitute a unique testimonial on these populations that have now disappeared.

The Éditions Xavier Barral have undertaken the digitization of the collection archived at the Anthropos Institue in Sankt Augustin, Germany. Christine Barthe, in charge of photography at the quai Branly Museum in Paris, and Xavier Barral have made a selection of about 250 photographs for this publication, the first one dedicated to the photographs of Martin Gusinde.

To help guide us on this photographic exploration, texts by Christine Barthe, Marisol Palma Behnke, Anne Chapman, and Dominique Legoupil provide keys for interpretation and place these enigmatic images back in their context.