United States, 1951.
Lives and works in Antigua Guatemala.
Franco-American photographer. Although he started studying Zoology, he discovered his true vocation was photography. He studied at the University of Florida and in 1979, he obtained a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. Later, he worked there as a professor. In 1980, he founded his photo studio, "The Personal Image".
He arrived in Guatemala for the first time in 1975, settling in San Juan Sacatepéquez, where he started to travel around to acquire an in-depth understanding of that region. He definitively settle down in Antigua Guatemala in 1983.
Working as a traveling photographer, from the supposed perspective of an ordinary man, he takes portraits in the plazas to everyone who wishes to be photographed. As a result of this work, he produced in 1987 the famous series "On a white background". Taking photographs in numerous Guatemalan communities during more two decades makes his artwork reflect the authentic identity of these people.
Since 1983 he runs his own studio: Sombra y Luz, where he makes high quality documentary photography. He has also maintained a constant activity as a photography professor. His teaching has great influence on many photographers of the current Guatemalan generation.
Chauche has exhibited in the most important Guatemalan galleries and museums. Among his personal exhibitions we can mention: “Ayer y hoy”, antiguo Convento de la Compañía de Jesús, Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (February, 2007); and “Santería chapina” and “Ser hombre chapín”, in the Sol del Río Gallery (2004). Among the collective exhibitions where he has participated: “Mundo Capitol”, ArteCentro Paiz, Guatemala (May, 2008); “La Mirada de Daniel Chauche”, National Museum of Anthropology, San Salvador, El Salvador (Sept - Nov 2009) and ArteCentro Paiz, Guatemala (September-October 2010).
His artwork is housed in important collections: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; Museum of Art, Jacksonville, Florida; St-Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, Florida; Tulane University, Latin American Library, New Orleans; Photographic archives of C.I.R.M.A., Antigua Guatemala; Paiz Art Foundation, Guatemala.
Another aspect of his work is organizing his photographic archive in different collections, in order to give them a thematic coherence and a testimonial and historical sense: he classified the photographs he took in Guatemala since 1976. As a result, he has edited portfolios of 12 copies each, plus three artist proofs. They are the first editions of this kind in the country.
Among his most importants books: Unfinished Conquest (University of California Press, 1993), Imágenes de oro (Banco G & T, Guatemala, 1993), Piezas maestras mayas (Museo de Arqueología, Guatemala, 1996), Palacio Nacional de Guatemala (Banco G & T, Guatemala, 2000), Izote (Mogo, Guatemala, 2003).