Luis Orlando Lagos

He was a Chilean photographer that took some of the most important photos in the history of Chile.

His close friends call him “Chico Lagos”, he was born in 1913 and died in 2007 at 94 years old. He was the official photographer of Salvador Allende all along his political career. Some attribute him the photos of the defense organization during the military coup d'état in 1973.

One of those photos were published at The New York Times and also won the World Press Photo in 1974, at that moment no one knew that Lagos was the author, and the photo was published without the author’s name, but before his death the newspaper “La Naciòn” wrote about that story and how Chico Lagos didn't want to give his name for security reasons.

There is a controversy around the authorship, because some other people attribute the work to Leopoldo Vargas another oficial photographer in the government.

But beyond the controversy and the price, Lagos was an important photographer and died without honors in a residential for old people, afflicted by alzaimer.

He is a great example how photography (and photojournalism as well) can capture a piece of history.