Martin Chambi (1891–1973) was a pioneering Peruvian photographer, celebrated for his portraits and landscapes that documented Indigenous life and culture in the Andean region. Born in Coaza, in the Puno region of southern Peru, Chambi began his career in photography as an assistant in a studio in Arequipa, later establishing his own in Cusco in the 1920s. He was among the first major Indigenous Latin American photographers and is known for the technical quality of his work and the dignity with which he represented his subjects.

He combined a documentary sensibility with strong aesthetic composition, creating a visual archive of early 20th century Peru that was both personal and historical. His work helped define Peruvian identity at a time of social and political change and has had a lasting influence on Latin American photography.

His legacy was reintroduced to international audiences in the 1970s through exhibitions and publications, and his archive has since become an essential reference for the visual history of the Andes. His images have been exhibited worldwide, including at Side, where his work was shown as part of a commitment to socially engaged and culturally significant documentary photography.