User:Prissy114/ Maria Cristina Orive

Maria Christina Orive (born September 8, 1931 in in Antigua, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan artist.

Biography
Orive was born in Antigua, Guatemala in 1931. She was the youngest of five children. She attended a tiny school ran by a Alsatian German. She produced the school's year book while attending secondary school. When feeling sad, her escape was going and watching a film, seeing an exhibition, attending a theatre, or reading a 'good' book. Her mother was French origin. Her great grandfather, Emilio Goubaud, founded Guatemala's first bookshop in the 1880's and passed the bookshop to his son, Orive's grandfather, who ran it until it closed in the 1950's. She studied French humanities at Smith College. She specialized in radio journalism. Writing and editing is a trait that she took with her to the United States. Orive returned to Guatemala once leaving college. Her job upon returning was working at a radio station. Her air-time was from eight to nine in the evening. While working for the radio station, she also worked at a daily newspaper for four years. She was in charge of the Saturday cultural supplement.

In 1957, she spent a year in Paris. There she discovered artist, Jackson Pollock, and 'action painting'. In Paris, she was a European arts correspondent for El Imparcial. She started to work the ORTF {French Radio and Television Organization} Spanish language service. After spending her first year in Paris, Orive decided to stay a total of fifteen years. Orive's photography started in Paris when she started taking photographs of herself. Her photographs soon turned into an album that told her story of her travels. In the 1960's, her work got her a job for an Argentine magazine, Primera Plana. Her first project was with Mario Vargas Llosa. Their project was about a little restaurant in the Latin Quarter. The restaurant served as a meeting place and a banking agency for hippies around Europe. She stopped working for the magazine in 1969. ASA press took on Orive to cover Latin America. After ASA press, Orive transferred to SIPA press which prioritized in political reporting.

In 1972, she worked for major photo magazines such as; Paris Match, Newsweek, l'Express, and many other Spanish ones. She had her work out worldwide by SIPA, including Arab counties. A year later, she moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina has been known for their publishing center of the Spanish speaking America. Due to the exposure, Argentina became the top country for publishing in South America and Spain. In 1973, she founded La Azotea with Sara Facio. With La Azotea, she started processing her black-and-white film. She always wanted to define what it meant to be Guatemalan in her work. By creating Buenos Aires publishing house La Azotea, Orive wanted to give photographers from Argentina and Guatemala a chance to present their work. Orive gave those photographers that are ignored a platform to express their talent by publishing books, portfolios, posters, and postcards. Postcards were very popular because of the photography printed on them. Postcard photography expressed life, reality, emotion, and poetry. Postcard photography was popular because it was inexpensive and presented quality. La Azotea's first publication was the collection of Los Fotografos. The collection consisted of a black and white series of ten individuals captured by the most significant Argentine photographers. These photographers included Carlos Bosch, Juan Di San-dro, Alicia D'Amico, Sara Facio, Annemarie Peinrich, Anatole Saderman, Feliciano Jean-mart, Alfredo Sanchez, Jorge Aguirre   and Eduardo Comesana. In 1974, she went to GAMMA press in hopes that they would take her work more seriously and because they were a bigger agency. In 1982, she committed herself completely to the publishing enterprise. It was very important to Orive to introduce work from Mexico, Brazil, and Panama because her and Sara had the only Latin American photographic publishers. Orive is a feminist and that had a lot to do with women being published in all her publications. A postcard series was published, Las Hechiceras, that showed strong women who've excelled in their chosen field. In 1979, Orive, Alicia D'Amico, Annemarie Heinrich, Juan Travnik, Andy Goldstein, and Sara Facio founded the Argentine Photographic Association.

Education
She studied Liberal Arts in Guatemala before studying French humanities at Smith College in the United States. She specialized in radio journalism, and graduated in 1954. Before going back to Guatemala, she attended Boston University and studied radio production.

Artworks
Good Friday, Guatemala, 1973 The photo shows a large carpet patterned with dyed sawdust. The pilgrims around the carpet are dressed as Nazarenes. The carpet of sawdust is full of vibrant colors. The carpet is a procession of Our Lord Of Mercy.

Ways of the Cross in Guatemala, 1973 The photograph is an image of Jesus of Nazareth's holy image taken through the city streets of Antigua. Men dressed as Nazarenes are carrying the giant display through the city of Antigua. Jesus of Nazareth's is in a red cloak carrying the wooden cross. Thousands of people come out to see the giant display being caring during Easter Holy week.

Santiago Atitlan, 1973 The photograph shows people wearing sombreros around the Maximon in the city of Santiago Atitlan. The Maximon is seen as a Maya God that protects the people of Santiago. He is seen as the messenger between God and the people.

Day of the Dead, Coban, Guatemala, 1 November 1973 The photograph is a woman against a wall looking downwards to her left side. The woman is wearing a white blouse tucked in from the front into a long blue skirt. Her hair is pulled back into a bun. The woman is wearing a long silver necklace.

Exhibitions

 * Masterpieces of French Photography- 1980
 * Imagining Guatemala- 2007

Collections
In 2007, her work along with others had their photographs displayed in the Art Museum of the Americas. In 2017, a tribute held Orive's artwork that was showcased in her hometown in Antigua, Guatemala. The tribute was held at an old college of the Society of Jesus of La Antigua Guatemala.

Honors/ Awards
La Azotea received honors for the best book published in Argentina in both 1992 and 1995. They received invitations to participate at international venues like the Frankfurt Book Fair, which gave confirmation to the importance of its efforts.

Publications
Orive and Facio have produced books on pioneers like Martin Chambi of Peru and Alejandro S. Witcomb of Argentina; historical figures like Grete Stern and Annemarie Heinrich, and the most avant-garde figures on today's photography scene. In 1985, she wrote "Portebelo": fotograpfia de Panama, along with Sandra Eleta, and Edison Simons. Portebelo is a book full of poetry. Orive published her book in 1992, Desires and Disguises: Five Latin American Photographers. In 1992, Orive wrote an article, "Two photographers, one city (La Antigua Guatemala: JJ.Yas - J.D. Noriega, 1880-1960)". In 1999, she published, Actos de fe en Guatemala, along with Sara Facio and Miguel Angel Asturias. In 2012, "Letter From Buenos Aires: Focusing Latin America" was published online by Orive.