The Lost Photos Of René Lavand
There are many photos, videos and other documents of magicians that get lost in time. I always try to compile all the resources I can find on the magicians I love so when I stumbled across a photo of René Lavand that I had never seen before I did some investigation. The photo I came across was of an exhibit in an art gallery in Argentina which featured prints of René Lavand. I contacted a few people and found both the year that they were taken and the photographer. They were taken by Foto Estudio Luisita (Graciela “Chela” and Luisa “Luisita Escarria), true magicians with a camera in 1972. The studio and the women behind it have been featured in a wonderful documentary. Interestingly, many artists mentioned by Lavand in his books have also been photographed by the same artists.
Fortunately, Foto Estudio Luisita is still operational as an archive dedicated to preserving the work of Luisita. I was able to contact them and make a donation to help their mission and they were able to provide to me photos that many people have never seen before of René Lavand.
It is a great privilege and honor to be able to share them with you. These photographs are copyrighted by Luisa Escarria and the Foto Estudio Luisita.
All of these photographs are copyrighted by Luisa Escarria and the Foto Estudio Luisita and all rights are reserved by them.
Special thank you to Sol at the Foto Estudio Luisita for making this possible.
Levitacion
René Lavand would make a card appear as the climax of some of his routines in what he called a levitation.
He would spread the deck on the table and in the motion of flipping over the spread a single card would be seen to rise as if by magic.
Spread Display
To let the image of the effect burn deeply in the audience’s mind, René would sometimes create this display.
Shuffled By My Hand, Your Hand And By The Hand Of God
Lentidigitación
Maestro
I truly hope you enjoyed these fantastic photos of René Lavand from 1972. Please consider supporting Foto Estudio Luisita, watch their fantastic documentary, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
One of my dreams is to go to Argentina to collect more documents on the life of René Lavand and archive more photos, videos and writings of his incredible magic and career to be able to share new discoveries in the form of a book or documentary to preserve his memory and so that future generations can experience the magic and wonder that he brought into the world. If you enjoyed this article please consider becoming a member to support my work. Thank you so much!
