The Photographs of Sady Gonzalez

Refugees from violence in the countryside. 

Sady Gonzalez (1913? - 1979), defined his life thru photography. He started out snapping photos for identity cards, went on to work for many of Colombia's most prestigious newspapers and magazines, and even became official photographer for several presidents. During that time, he chronicled much of Colombia's cultural and social life, most famously, the Bogotazo riots triggered by the April 9, 1948 assassination of populist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. Gonzalez's work captures poverty and high society, culture, sports and politics.

These photos are from an exhibition of Gonzalez's work on now in the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, in La Candelaria. The BLAA is exhibiting 100 of their collection of 9,000 of Gonzalez's photos.

A white Señorita smiles holding a naked black baby, as if the child were an animal. 

Poverty, reminiscent of the work of Jacob Riis. 

Wrestling in the Plaza Santamaria. Today, the handsome old building sits unused. 

A Colombian veteran returns home from the Korean War. Colombian was the only Latin American nation to send soldiers to that conflict. 

A visit to a jail, or prison. 

How much have things changed? Cars swim across a flooded Ave. Septima. 

A children's cart race.  

Poet León de Greiff (in hat) in Cafe El Automatico, a bohemian-intellectual gathering place, in 1950. 

Lottery and newspaper salesmen.

Did people really look like this? Portrait of a woman, probably from the 1930s.

A tranvia, or streetcar, being towed after El Bogotazo. The streetcar's were the riot's most famed victims.

Corpses piled up in Bogotá's Central Cemetery after the Bogotazo riots, during which thousands were killed. 

Not all the rioters were idealistic. Drunken looters during the Bogotazo. 

Bogotá residents flee with their hands in the air during the Bogotazo riots. 

Police frisk residents during the Bogotazo riots. 

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan speaking. 

The corpse of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, caudillo del pueblo. 

The corpse of Juan Roa Sierra, Gaitan's alleged assassin. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours