Cordero, Julio

He settled with his family in La Paz, where he began working as an assistant in a photographic studio owned by the Valdés brothers, Peruvians, from whom he learned the trade. In 1900, he opened his own studio, and it was between 1900 and 1920 that he achieved his greatest popularity by portraying all social classes. A cheerful man and a good businessman, he personally attended to his clients and portrayed both the upper and middle classes, which provided him with good income, as well as the lower classes, including many portraits of indigenous people and even beggars, photographs he took for pleasure. His affiliation with the Liberal Party led him to become the portraitist of several Bolivian governments and numerous military figures. He was a photographer for the Bolivian Police (where he retired with the rank of captain and founded the identification department) and for several governments (maintaining ties with the Liberal Party and being a friend of President Ismael Montes). Upon his death, he left behind the "Julio Cordero Archive" as his legacy.