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[title]Every August 19, World Photography Day invites us to look back and think about how much the way we document the world has changed. For Andy Cherniavsky, that transformation can also be told through the thousands of images she has taken over the decades, many of them connected to Argentine rock.
Her camera has captured Charly García, Serú Girán, León Gieco and many of the biggest artists on the Argentine music scene, in photographs that ultimately became part of the country’s cultural memory. But behind those images there is also a story of learning, searching and experience.
To celebrate the day, we spoke with Cherniavsky about her career, her relationship with Charly, the development of her own visual perspective and the changes the profession has undergone. A conversation about photography, music, memory and the craft of looking.
Andy Cherniavsky is synonymous with rock. Her camera has captured Charly García, Serú Girán, León Gieco and many of the biggest artists on the Argentine music scene, in images that have become part of the country’s cultural memory. After decades behind the camera, her ability to be amazed remains intact. “Everything about my work still surprises me,” she says. For her, one of the keys is turning every project into a challenge, even when it involves something far removed from her usual style.
When she accepts a job, she says, “something beautiful develops inside me, which is a search that ultimately defines the image, what it is going to look like.” That search means becoming fully involved in every project, from the initial idea to the final result.
Charly García, Music and a Friendship That Shaped Her Life
“My relationship with Charly is still beautiful,” Andy says. Although today they see each other “very occasionally,” their bond was born out of friendship, admiration and, above all, a shared passion for music.
“I think Charly also came into my life through my friendship with him and my admiration and my fanaticism for music,” she explains. When she was young, getting together to take photographs was almost a celebration.
“Charly somehow saved my life when I was a kid,” she explains. His influence helped her reaffirm her passion for music and find her path within rock photography, which later also led her to work on album covers.
“It was Charly who showed me a way of living, that there wasn’t just one way to live, but millions of ways to live,” she says. Their relationship was also important in helping Andy begin to see herself as a photographer. “I think he was the first person who recognized me as a photographer,” she shares.
The first time Charly traveled to the United States, he returned with a gift for her: a book by Annie Leibovitz. “First, for him to see me as a photographer and, second, Annie, who is an idol and a genius and someone I learned so much from,” she says.
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From Insecurity to Finding Her Own Perspective
Finding her own style was not easy for Andy either. For years, she felt the need to define a visual perspective that would identify her, until she realized that her identity could actually lie in diversity.
“It was very difficult for me to define my own perspective because I struggled with the idea of style, as if you have to have a style, your own perspective,” she says. Over time, that search became a way of understanding photography through freedom and variety.
“I think my perspective has to do with being self-taught and not having dedicated myself exclusively to one type of photography, but having done everything, everything, everything. And also enjoying the diversity that photography has,” she explains.
Today, that breadth is part of her identity. “So, I think if I had to define my perspective, I would say it’s very versatile. I always say that I’m like a collector of my own work,” she says. Over the years, that insecurity faded away. Experience and maturity gave her a confidence she did not have at the beginning.
Andy Cherniavsky on Artificial Intelligence
Photography has also changed. Today, at a time when artificial intelligence can generate images from just a few instructions, Andy is clear about what makes a photograph irreplaceable: the experience and perspective of the person behind the camera.
“I think that for a photograph to be important, to be something that stands apart from artificial intelligence and to be more than just an image, it has to have an impact,” she says. That impact, she explains, comes from each photographer’s choices and everything that has shaped the way they see. “I believe that behind a perspective there is a soul, there is a feeling, there is a sensation, there is a life,” she says.
In this regard, she recalls an idea from American photographer Ansel Adams, for whom the camera was merely a tool compared with everything that lies behind an image. “What matters is what we have experienced, the works of art we have seen, the movies, the books, the loves, the personal experiences,” Andy recalls. And she concludes with a conviction: “I really feel that way, I mean, nothing can replace that.”
Andy’s Advice to Her Younger Self
Behind a career like Andy’s there was also a photographer who was just starting out, with doubts, insecurities and plenty to learn. Her path as a self-taught photographer meant that for years she felt she was missing a more formal education. “If I could talk to the Andy who was just starting out, I would tell her to trust herself,” she says. Alongside that insecurity was another challenge: photographing very important personalities and wondering whether the results would live up to expectations.
“And on the other hand, because I was always photographing very, very important personalities, there was this constant fear that they wouldn’t like it, that it wouldn’t be good,” she explains. Over the years, experience and maturity changed something. “I started to feel confident over time, with maturity, with age, with a lot of things, with experience,” she says.
Her advice for those taking their first steps is therefore the same advice she would give that younger Andy who was just beginning: “I think it’s very important to have some confidence in yourself professionally.”
The Photo Andy Would Choose Among Thousands
Choosing a favorite photograph is not easy after decades behind a camera. Among thousands of images and all kinds of assignments, Andy does have one rock photograph that holds a special place.
“But among the live photographs, one of the ones I like the most is the one of Charly kneeling onstage,” she says. The image was also chosen by Fito Páez for the cover of his album Rock and Roll Revolution, as a tribute to Charly.
“And I think that, among my live photographs, that is my best one,” Andy says. Even so, she finds it difficult to choose just one: “Then, I don’t know, I like them all and... not just the ones of Charly, but all of my work.”
Her connection with photography is also rooted in that diversity. Throughout her career, she has photographed people, objects, cars and all kinds of scenes. But there is something about rock that continues to hold a special place.
“I think rock photographs are my favorites because... because, well, because they will never die and they will always be connected to that artist, those songs, that album,” she explains.