Víctor Bugge, the photographer who has shadowed Argentina’s presidents for 47 years, has decided to hang up his camera.
His decision to step down was confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni, who attributed it to personal reasons.
Bugge, 68, first came to the Casa Rosada in 1978, during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship’s grip on power. Since then, he has worked almost without interruption, with only a brief halt in his work at the end of Alberto Fernández’s 2015-2019 government.
Along the way, he has been a witness to some of the most iconic moments of Argentina’s history, including the return to democracy in 1983 and the 2001 financial crisis.
“I saw Videla, Viola, Galtieri, Bignone, Alfonsín, I was there for the 10 years of Menem, with De la Rúa, Rodríguez Saá, Camaño, Duhalde, Néstor Kirchner, Cristina, her two terms, Mauricio Macri, and I never had a problem,” he said in an interview with Radio Mitre in the twilight of Fernández's Presidency.
“A year and a half ago, from one day to the next, they stopped me from taking photos, as I had done for 40 years, they ruined me,” he said.
Bugge said that as a result he went into “a peak of depression” which would eventually lead to prostate cancer.
“I don't want to victimise myself, but it was a blow to my life. I had serious health problems. Luckily I overcame them, but they were serious,” he continued.
With the arrival of Javier Milei in power, Bugge returned to his role.
The veteran photographer, who has seen collections of his images published in books, defines his photographic style as “oficial, no oficialista" – i.e. not party political. He says he records what happens at the Casa Rosada and the politicians that inhabit it.
“I am in charge of following the presidents and their agenda, but then the work is my own. My duty is to inform,” he said in a past interview with Noticias magazine.
Bugge, whose father was a photographer with La Nación and whose son is already interested in the family trade, was honoured by the ADEPA industry in 2023, which recognised him for his “outstanding career” of “excellence and commitment.”
“Víctor is a privileged witness of this recent history, which is also to a large extent the history of these 40 years of uninterrupted democracy,” said Daniel Dessein, former president of ADEPA, as he paid tribute.
Among Bugge’s favourite tales from his long era are sneakily taking pictures of then-dictator Jorge Videla, secretly taking images of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo marching from his office window and accompanying then-president Raúl Alfonsín during Holy Week in 1987.
His job, however, also brought him into close proximity with a host of famous figures and world icons, including the Rolling Stones, Fidel Castro, Lady Di, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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