In 1925, they were awarded the gold medal in Buenos Aires at the Salon of Photographic Art and won the Grand Prize at the Bolivian Centennial of the Independence.
[2] Masters of the chiaroscuro technique, which uses high-contrast lighting to achieve dramatic effect, the Vargas brothers captured a world of nostalgia and illusion.
By utilizing long exposures, bonfires and magnesium flashes, the brothers created images which captured the beauty of the Andean sky.
Though they excelled at portraiture, for example with their images of Helba Huara and Isabel Sanchez Osorio, the studio created a diverse range of photographs depicting churches, disasters, factories, homes, hospitals, offices, parades and schools.
[4] When the Great Depression arrived and photography became less of a luxury and more accessible to average people, the elaborate sets and creativity that had been their hallmark changed into a more modern commercial photographic studio.