Ensaio Fotográfico Magazine 1st Edition by Ensaio Fotográfico

#1, 08/2015

ABOUT US

Editor Flávio Valle Curators Flávio Valle, Isabel Florêncio, Tibério França

Ensaio Fotográfico is an electronic magazine, published every four months, distributed free of charge, whose purpose is to promote the fine art photography and research in photography produced in the city of Belo Horizonte, for the national and international context. Ensaio Fotográfico is developed with the resources granted by the Municipal Law for Cultural Incentive of Belo Horizonte (Lei Municipal de Incentivo à Cultura de Belo Horizonte). Municipal Foundation for Culture (Fundação Municipal de Cultura).

Contributors Alexandra Simões de Siqueira, Daniela Paoliello, Guilherme Bergamini, Helena Teixeira Rios, Isabel Florêncio and Laura Fonseca Reviewer Junia Mortimer Translator Junia Mortimer and Georgina Vasquez Production, Design and Graphic Design CultivArte Cover photographs Helena Teixeira Rios, Laura Fonseca, Daniela Paoliello and Guilherme Bergamini Email contato@revistaensaiofotografico.com Website www.revistaensaiofotografico.com Facebook www.facebook.com/ revistaensaiofotografico

Letter from the editor

This new Place

Photos and Texts HELENA TEIXEIRA RIOS

Photography and Speed: the paradox of the gaze

Texts ISABEL FLORÊNCIO

Hotel Splendid

Photos and Texts LAURA FONSECA

Exile

Photos and Texts DANIELA PAOLIELLO

Photography, mediation and biographical research: a teaching experience in the field of visual arts

Texts and Photos ALEXANDRA SIMÕES DE SIQUEIRA

Education for all Photos GUILHERME BERGAMINI | Texts MARCELO SEVAYBRICKER

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Over the past few years, artistic photography

and researchers can publish and discuss

and research in photography have been taking

their works, the production of new material is

shape in Belo Horizonte. Its citizens have been

made possible. Produced independently and

awarded national and international awards

collaboratively, the key objective of this platform

and undergraduate and graduate courses on

is to highlight and introduce the readers to

the subject have been created. Along with the

photographic creations that have artistic,

commitment of the individual professional

scientific and cultural relevance. In addition,

towards this art, the good season in photography

in order to ensure access for all to its content,

is also due to the cultural public policies of

the publication is released free of charge on

incentive to visual arts. Since 2010 there has

the website www.revistaensaiofotografico.com

been an increasing number of projects being

and it provides the reader with conceptual

presented and receiving the benefits of the

tools for reading the images. Thus, Ensaio

Municipal Law for Cultural Incentive. Some

Fotogrรกfico is an instrument for implementing

of these projects, such as this magazine,

a cultural policy which aims to spread the

aspire, mainly, to encourage photographers

photographic thinking of Belo Horizonte, to

and researchers working on this subject.

democratize the access to symbolic goods and also to instruct the public for the visual arts.

In this sense, Ensaio Fotogrรกfico is not just a magazine, but also a cultural act that aims to

Ensaio Fotogrรกfico runs according to an

promote artistic photography and research in

editorial line that covers distinct approaches of

photography produced in Belo Horizonte. The

photography, which range from investigations

reason for this is that as a result of creating and

into historical processes to experimentations

maintaining a space in which photographers

with contemporary languages. In this first

edition, four photo essays and two critical

but also to the collaboration of everyone who

essays are presented: in “This New Place”,

enjoys

Helena Rios proposes a redefinition of space

and researchers who have sent their works,

through photographic procedures; in “Hotel

the curators who selected the most suitable

Splendid”, Laura Fonseca narrates the daily

ones for this first edition, the editorial team

lives of women working as prostitutes in hotels

which revised and diagrammed the magazine,

at Guaicurus Street; in “Exile”, Daniela Paoliello

CultivArte which produced it, and the Municipal

explores the relationship between her body and

Foundation for Culture which sponsored it.

the

magazine,

the

photographers

the surrounding nature as she performs for the camera; in “Education for All”, Guilherme

Flávio Valle

Bergamini

Editor

records

the

abandonment

education in this country; in “Photography, Mediation

and

Biographical

Research”,

researcher Alexandra Simões presents an educational action that uses photography as a tool; in “Photography and Speed: the paradox of gaze”, Isabel Florêncio proposes a debate on the temporal aspect of the photographic gesture as she reviews the work of four contemporary photographers from Germany. The value of this publication is due not only to the excellence of the works published here, 5

This new Place Photos and Texts HELENA TEIXEIRA RIOS

The world before the camera is real, but what

from what is usual, not to look at the display and

permeates the machine is our perception,

not to make visual compositions so as to seek

captured and transformed into what gives

movements, colors, textures and shadows. This

meaning to that moment, and that can be re-

action enabled unstable forms to arise, with no

signified moments later.

outline; images that were blurred and unclear, in which the gestures would be designed and

The purpose of this photographic essay is to find

enlarged in order to transmit and discover this

a way to expand the communication between

new place and my own way of representing it

place, image and the individual, turning the

through my perception.

photographs into not a mere collection of scenes, but into something that gives form to

After this process, I took to selecting images

what I want to convey in the instant I see the

that could interact with each other. I realized

world.

that the captured photographs had not yet configured or trespassed what I had been

Thus, there is no interest in copying what

seeking as a result. At post-production, I began

has happened, framing and disposing it in

to overlap surfaces, looking for matching colors,

appropriate compositions, but yet to seek,

textures, movements, which would help me

through the picture, what I feel when I am

chose certain images over others. In this way,

inserted in a certain space, constructing

layers of photos were being worked on, allowing

therefore not obvious images, but those that

to transform shadows into patches and gardens

are incentives to the idea of that site through

into paintings, creating breakups, recreations

my imagination.

and generating fruition. Hence, what I now show has never actually been seen before, but

Accordingly, I decided to release the camera

it is revealed through my gaze, my imagination. 7

Photography and Speed: the paradox of the gaze Texts ISABEL FLORÊNCIO

INTRODUCTION This paper is part of the lecture I gave on July

involving digital capture and handmade printing

23, 2015, at the opening of the exhibition “The

(intaglio gravure). Such processes share the

day will come when photography will slow

reference to the origins of photography, a time

again”, which took place within the Photography

when the photographic gesture demanded the

Triennial program, in Hamburg in 2015. The

photographer to have previous awareness in

exhibition brings together the work of four

aesthetic and conceptual terms. This paper

contemporary German photographers (Oliver

proposes to discuss the relationship between

Rolf J. Conrad Schmidt, Hendrik Faure and Ralf)

photography and speed considering the impacts

and can be seen in Hamburg from July 24 to 28,

of the technological age on the photographic

2015. The four artists use traditional methods

gesture

(photogravure, wet collodion) or hybrid processes

of the individual in contemporary society.

and

the

perceptive

capacity

SPEED: VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE AND THE

extreme competitiveness of today’s society, we

SIGHT WITHOUT GAZING

are fed by the idea that being up to date also means being in possession of all the technique

Today it is possible to perceive how, in so

and information that enables us to be tuned

many levels, the world is organized according

24 hours a day with the world, connected

to notions of speed, technological efficiency

with the wide village which the globalized

and competitiveness. The attribution of great

world has become, as sociologist Marshall

value to technique, the idea of instantaneity

McLuhan theorized in the 1960’s. The idea

in making images and in transferring data,

of being up to date has become a slogan and

besides

high speed has become a sign of effectiveness.

real-time

communication,

all

these aspects make profound marks in our experience of private life as well as serve as

We must, however, ask ourselves whether this

a parameter in global political and economic

idea of high speed will be really something

contexts. This triad – speed, technology and

imperative, which one cannot escape from.

competitiveness – has largely driven our way of

Are we indeed encapsulated within this

life, both in the subjective and material fields.

accelerated craft in search for the future? To

Either in micro or macro level, contemporary

what extent is the idea of high speed actually

life requires from the individuals ever more

a gain for our sensitivity, for our perception of

accelerated kinds of behavior (SANTOS, 2006).

the world and for intersubjective relationships, which are the basis for

social welfare?

Given this situation, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, not to surrender to the permanent

The concept of high-speed that I bring into

temptation of high speed as a contemporary

discussion here is not only related to the

way of life. According to Milton Santos, when

exposure time for taking a picture or that

effectiveness becomes a creed and rush, a

of sending it to any corner of the world. It is,

kind of virtue, we are urged to participate in

rather, a philosophical notion, or perhaps an

this current, which drags us in search for the

ideological one, that shapes the relationships

“future”. Within this belief, supported by the

and the behavior of individuals and, after

all, affects our perception and our way

to exist in order to be photographed, although

of interacting with the world around us.

the rush of our contemporary way of life tends to make us look less and less to our surroundings.

The theoretical perspective I present here goes

As we do not have time, we photograph,

hand in hand with that of philosopher Paul

expecting the stored image to replace, at least

Virilio. According to him, today we live under

vicariously, the experience that we can no

dromospheric pollution, a consequence of the

longer grasp as we run in search for the future.

high-speed syndrome that affects us all. For Virilio, visual aids (such as cameras, telescopes,

Nevertheless, there is something in the

screencast, among other vision devices) provide

opposite direction to the enhancement of

a form of artificial perception that, by replacing

high-speed ideology asking to be looked at

the human eye, they end up generating a loss

more carefully. Family environment, subjective

in the subjects’ capacity of representation. Still

relationships and empathy, which all suffer

according to Paul Virilio, the high-speed age

from the lack of time. This is a planetary

and its visual aids make our vision dyslexic,

problem.

cause the fall of experience and the reduction

institutions and the relationships between

of perceptive faith. We live in an age marked by

nations suffer from a type of pathology

the conquest of light speed, seeking to expand

whose origin is in the resulting movement

the scope of our vision and making everything

that acceleration provokes in our way of life.

Likewise,

the

environment,

the

visible. Through the acceleration of time, it becomes possible to move quickly in space.

It is contradictory to think that, because we

We have shortened space but have flattened

do everything very fast, we fail to enjoy time

the landscape, as the machine of vision, which

thoroughly. We fail to take time to look at

takes the place of human vision, has become a

the detail that has been overlooked in the

kind of sight without gazing (VIRILIO, 1951, p. 59).

urban turbulence; to look at other people’s subjectivity, to perceive the ephemeral aspects

I believe that this relationship can be applied to our

of life and to identify the desire for interaction

everyday experience, in which everything seems

that every subject demands. And the result of 19

this fast movement in search for the future, for

PHOTOGRAPHY,

what has to be achieved as soon as possible

OBLITERATION OF THE GAZE

SPEED

AND

THE

– preferably yesterday – is the blindness in relation to the present. Blindness related to

The acceleration of technical processes and the

the presence, I would say. Being here and

high-speed culture of today’s society have an

being nowhere have become synonymous.

important impact in our ways of expression and in our approaches to images, especially in the

In the field of arts, we still have the privilege, at

aspects related to the photographic gesture and

least in part, to count on certain actions that, in

to the photographic image itself. Many aspects

my point of view, may function as a kind of oasis

of the acts undertaken individually or collectively

within the desertified landscape that results

within the history of photography show that the

from the compulsion of being up to date, in which

increase of speed has a close relationship with

we are all compelled to participate. In these

the aesthetic evolution of the photographic

artistic actions that subvert the technological

language. But there are nonsensical aspects in

fix approach to the world, our subjectivity finds

this relationship. I will comment on just a few:

its way against the exacerbated acceleration in which we live. In this sense, art has a mission

Initially, it is known that the first technical

beyond the aesthetic field. It operates as a

image, carried out by Niépce in 1826, resulted

kind of compliment to slowness, since the

from about 8 hours of exposure. The first

field of arts tends to offer symbolic spaces for

photographic process based on silver salts,

contemplation and reflection. It is an experience

the daguerreotype, made public in France in

of this kind that we have the pleasure to enjoy

1839, represented a significant leap regarding

through the works of the four German artists

exposure time as it required only a few minutes

gathered in this exhibition. By distinct means,

to produce a photograph. Urban scenes and still

they are all an expression of what slowness –

lives were the main target of the first images.

what I call the NO up to date mode – can operate

Nevertheless, the streets would always seem

in the aesthetic and sensitive field.

to be empty, as the low sensibility of emulsion to light did not allow the image of a passerby

to be captured. Only by chance in Paris, in the

This is only some of the data showing how,

19th century, was it possible to register, for the

since its invention, photography has tried to

first time, a man shining his shoes in a corner1.

overcome the limits imposed by long exposure times. As emulsion and lenses have become

At that time, a blurred photograph was

more sensible to light, using faster exposure

considered an imperfect photograph, because

times

it lacked what photography brought as novelty

increasing shot speed has allowed to reveal

in the history of representation: the fidelity

aspects of reality that used to escape from

made possible by technical resources. Due to

the human eye, for instance, the ergonomics

technical restrictions for the low sensitivity of

of the movement of people and animals. In

the emulsion and to the low optical quality of

this sense, the visual investigations made by

the lenses, making a photograph required long

Eadweard Muybridge and also by Ă&#x2030;tienne-

exposure times. Therefore, in order to avoid

Jules Marey brought important contributions

blur, photographers used to employ many

both in the scientific and in the aesthetic fields,

resources such as props, pose chairs, supports

that is to say, in the history of representation.

has

also

become

possible.

Thus,

for behind the head, anything that would help immobilize the photographed person.

On the other hand, the acceleration of the processes and the flexibility of portable

Since the 1850â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, the use of wet collodion

cameras have also made photography an

emulsion (the process used by artists Oliver

easier and more commercial activity. From

Rolf and J. Konrad Schmidt) was revolutionary

the 1880â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on, the launch of portable cameras

for photography. Firstly because, given the

has enabled anyone to take a picture. The

high sensibility of that emulsion, reducing

first campaign of Kodak brings, for instance,

the exposure time to only a few seconds

a young and very elegant woman using a

was

made

possible;

camera. The idea behind the argument of the

the

glass

holder

with

extreme

secondly

allowed

fidelity

and

because

reproducibility verisimilitude.

1 Daguerre realizou esta imagem em 1838 em Paris. Cf. ROSENBLUM.pags. 17-20.

ad – albeit predominantly biased and sexist –

popularize photography and, on the other

is that every mortal, even an elegant and vain

hand, to create a less compromising way of

woman, would be able to shoot with that device.

observing and making use of the technique.

The acceleration in the modes of apprehending

Looking,

and distributing photographs was decisive for

synonymous. In the digital age, characterized

the photographic aesthetic throughout the 19th

and 20th centuries, especially when the snapshot

quantity has taken the place of quality. The

was made possible and reproduction of images

consequent and contemplative act of gazing

in print media became feasible. These factors

and perceiving has been replaced by techniques

brought the ability to register and circulate

of editing, treating and manipulating the

aspects of everyday life, which are now heavily

image. Contemplation has been replaced by

publicized in newspapers, flyers, magazines and

the compulsion of the shot. Even before the

posters of all kinds. Since then, we have got so

image is perceived, it is already captured. This

used to images that we have become less able to

is a major aspect questioned in the movie

actually see within the turmoil of everyday life.

Blow Up in the 1970’s. The film has become an

gazing

increasingly

and more

perceiving compact

are

not

devices,

important reference in the history of cinema and However,

the

acceleration

technical

within the studies of photographic language.

processes has also become, in a certain way, a problem for photography. As devices

It is, however, paradoxical to think that the faster

have become more agile, lighter and more

one can take a picture, the lesser contact one

automated, the photographic gesture has

establishes with the scene before the camera.

become present everywhere and yet nowhere,

I believe it is now a serious issue for the new

as it turned out to be something to be consumed

generation, which has grown up in the digital era,

on a daily basis without much forethought, and

to be able to imagine a time when photography

also without consequences. The technological

was done “blindly”, and the image was desired

effectiveness and promptness of the means

as a potential and latent form through the

of reproduction served, on the one hand, to

viewfinder, although it was to be seen, materially,

only days, sometimes weeks, after the exposure.

or hundreds of times and the act of perceiving, which is the great power and great skill of the

Let us now go back to the expression I used

creative act, is delegated to the device. The digital

earlier in the text to reach the center of my

screen has thus become, not only an instrument

reflection: I intentionally used the phrase

of viewing the image, but also the means by

“photography made blindly” referring to the time

which the world is observed. The screen offers

when in order to shoot with a camera one needed

the world being captured as a trophy, as a

to have not only technical expertise to control

certificate of presence to be exhibited in the

the device and to process the photographs, but

future. And that is how we go by. We please

especially one needed to have foresight to guide

ourselves with the stored image on the chip,

the adequate operation of the device and of the

without thinking that photography is just the

laboratory apparatus in order to achieve their

skeleton (or the mummy) of the perceptual act.

goal. Each photograph involved much investment of time and resources. Each shot involved,

What we observe is not the scene any longer,

above all, perception and prior observation

but a second order representation of the

through the optical viewfinder. That is to say

scene. In Plato’s terms, we are living in an

that each shot involved the act of imagining.

age of projections, in which images replace our relationship with the world. In doing so,

In the technological age what is common is the

we lose contact with the referential world and

paradoxical tendency to select the image not

tend to prefer the secondhand relationship

in the moment of capture, but afterwards, on

to the world that the image offers. The haptic

the screen, which means that the picture is not

relationship with the world is replaced by the

precisely the result of a previous act of perception.

anxiety in capturing life through the screen

It tends to be, disregarding the feeling of the

that displays dozens or hundreds of shots.

photographer, determined by the apparatus. Shot and capture. These are terms of combat Today, the shot takes place even before the

that have nothing to do with contemplation. They

perception is triggered. One tends to shoot tens

have nothing to do with accurate perception, 23

which is mandatory for every photographer,

ability to imagine, to foresee and to create images

at a time in which the photographic act would

even before they are actually taken by the device.

still require a certain aesthetic awareness as well as

a certain awareness of the

If, on the one hand, the high-speed age

consequences of using the apparatus as

offers us the possibility of quick capturing

a means of expression of inner sensibility.

and transmitting images, on the other hand, it removes the contemplative and ritualistic

In analog photography, the latent image

aspect involving the gesture of making and

is comprised of

the poetics involving the

viewing images. This visual exercise that allows

photographic gesture. It is an image that is

an image to be present virtually before our eyes

there, invisible, the result of imagination and

prior to being captured by the camera is what

technical expertise, but silently awaiting to

the high-speed culture steals from us in terms

be revealed. I was initiated into the world of

of imaging potentiality. A type of blindness

photography still during the analog age and

stands in between our sensibility and the world.

I can very well understand what it means to wait for hours, sometimes for days, to see the

Undoubtedly, technical innovation has brought

result of a shot. It would be a mix of mystery

to the photographic language new expressive

and anxiety. A space of tension and expectation

features and it has also allowed the creation of

that comprised the relationship between what

new aesthetic forms. The reduction of exposure

was imagined, what was sensed and what was

times and the acceleration of the processes

actually performed and that can only be savored

(capture and transmission) allowed, as outlined

when the picture is not presented immediately

earlier, for capturing aspects of life that were not

to the eyes. Today it is no longer common to

visible to the naked eye. And these aspects were

make photographs blindly. But blind photos

distinctive to enhance the unusual, metonymic

are commonly made. The high-speed and the

and specific nature of the photographic

technical effectiveness bring to photography

language. But it is important to bear in mind

the warranty and the agility of the results, but

that the increased speed of the processes and

they also remove from the photographic act the

the use of ever more technological devices can

also lead to the obliteration of the gaze, if the

impact of high-speed in the perception of our

device lacks to be in the service of a sensibility,

surroundings: in the perception of the other, of

a perceptive gesture prior to the shot.

symbolic spaces in everyday life, of the details in urban life, and of our own act of imagining,

PRAISE TO PERCEPTUAL GESTURE

understanding and producing images.

It is not my intention to attribute more importance

The great message of this aesthetic encounter

to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;no up to dateâ&#x20AC;? mode of producing

is to lead us to speculate on the photographic

images than to all the issues surrounding the

gesture as an act of contemplation that demands

photographic language. Neither do I intend to

from us perceptual involvement and aesthetic

place the process or the technical apparatus

and conceptual awareness. In addition to the

ahead of the conceptual and aesthetic aspects,

traditional methods involved here, these artists

which I consider to be the core of the figurative

show us that the acceleration of photographic

power of a photographic image. The reflection I

techniques puts our perception at risk: the risk

propose intends to contribute to the realization

of being run over by agility and by the lack of

that, in addition to the traditional methods

reflection implied in an accelerated way of life,

(which are complex, cumbersome, slow and

that is to say, the risk of obliterating the gaze and

tend to refer aesthetically and technically to

the perception through technical acceleration.

the early days of photography), what brings together the work of these four photographers

These artists not only rescue handicraft

is the awareness of the perceptive gesture that

processes from early photography through the

precedes the photographic act. What brings

processes they use, but they actually rescue

them together is primarily the way in which

the attention and the perceptual power we

the processes they use tend to collaborate with

all ended up losing in the current accelerated

respect to another kind of relationship with the

way of life we find ourselves in. The attitude

gaze. Thus, in different ways, each artist leads

of involvement, commitment and aesthetic

us to think of the photographic gesture itself,

contemplation, in which the technical and

of its relationship with the gaze and of the

plastic decisions are slowly taken, is more than 25

a simple restraint feature of the processes they used. It is actually a philosophical, ethical and aesthetic option before the photographic gesture and the image to be achieved. In these terms, the greatest contribution of this show is not only the historical rescue of laborious techniques or their resulting aesthetics; it is rather a philosophical and aesthetic attitude concerning how a high-speed culture affects our lives and, more specifically, what such kind of culture implies to the potentiality of the gaze. These artists tell us, after all, that the gestures of looking and perceiving have become anachronistic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY BURGIN, Victor. Photographic practice and art theory. In: ___ (Ed.). Thinking photography. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1982a. p. 39-83. KRAUSS, Rosalind. O fotográfico. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2002a. ___. The optical unconsciouns. London: MIT Press, 1994. ___. Anmerkung zum Index: Teil I. In: WOLF, Herta (Hg.). Paradigma Fotografie: Fotokritik am Ende des fotografischen Zeitalters. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2002b. p. 140-157. FLORÊNCIO-BRAGA, Isabel. Figuralidades: da tradução ao poético na fotografia contemporânea. Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2009. FLORÊNCIO-PAPE, Isabel. Andreas Müller-Pohle: poesia visual e de-figuração. In: ALETRIA: revista de estudos de literatura, v.6. Belo Horizonte: POSLIT, Faculdade de Letras da UFMG. Pp. 151-168. SANTOS, Milton. A natureza do espaço: técnica e tempo, razão e emoção. São Paulo: EdUSP, 2006. VIRILIO, Paul. “Echtzeit-Perspektiven”. In: Christos M. Joachimides [et.al.] (ed.), Metropolis (Katalog zur Internationalen Kunstausstellung, Matrin-Gropius-Bau), Berlin 1991, p. 59. ROSENBLUM, Naomi. A world history of photography. New York: Abbeville, 1984.

Hotel Splendid Photos and Texts LAURA FONSECA

The

photographic

project

called

“Hotel

to hotels in Guaicurus Street, during the year

Splendid” was carried out in order to register the

2011. This strategy was essential for describing

context of the everyday life of women working

the lives of those women, and contributed to

as prostitutes in hotels at Guaicurus Street,

the construction of their bodies differently

a place known as a point for prostitution in

from what is recorded in the traditional media.

Belo Horizonte. It decisively follows a feminine and compassionate perspective, refusing the

In this context, the project aims to bring the

banal exploitation trends and focusing on the

public closer and to modify the way one sees

human condition of the portrayed subject.

the everyday reality of prostitutes by showing a distinct approach, a more humanistic and

Therefore, the emphasis of this project is in the

respectful one, free of the usual sensationalism

context of the everyday life of prostitutes, not

often associated with works dealing with

just in the activities and attitudes inherent to the

this theme. It is an opportunity to change the

profession. In order to do so, this work records not

conventional view of society on prostitution

only the women but also the environments, the

through audiovisual arts by providing an

objects, the situations “dismantled” into a more

alternative perspective that goes far beyond

intimate time, that of the “in-between”. It is a time

legal, moral and religious prejudice, which

when the artist, as a woman and photographer,

unfortunately continues to prevail in society

gained access to such ambiance and had the

today.

ability to document along the numerous visits

Hotel EsplĂŞndido 31

Quarto No 207 / 1 33

Quarto No 210 / 4 35

Quarto No 121 / 1 37

Quarto No 210 / 3 39

Quarto No 113

Quarto No 105

Quarto No 114 / 2

Quarto No 117 / 1

Quarto No 234 47

Quarto No 121 / 2

Quarto No 210 / 1 51

Quarto No 137

Quarto No 123

Exile Photos and Texts DANIELA PAOLIELLO

In the images of Exile, a relationship between

to the encounter of the object, but a body that

photography and performance is established, in

throws itself to the shot: a projectil-body.

which the body acts exclusively for the camera, away from the direct gaze of the public. Thus

In the relationship between the human body

staging

photographic

and nature, the body takes back its essence,

narrative, as part of its two-dimensional logic, of

what is more of its own, its pain at the meeting

its static and silent time. To shoot without seeing

with the externality, its condition of affected

the scene: it is a picture of the before (image-

body by the forces of the world. It goes through

projection) and the after (image at random). In

the experience of being swallowed, processed,

the genesis of photography, the camera sensor

reinvented

is invaded by light, without the guidance of the

according to which the body deprograms itself,

eye; the photographic image comes from an

and becomes again a field of living forces that

anonymous instant, in the abstention of the

affects the world and is affected by it.

contributes

the

within

the

relational

action

subject. There is no hunting, there is no decisive moment nor decisive act of seeing. It is like a shot in reverse. It is not the camera that goes

Photography, mediation and biographical research: a teaching experience in the field of visual arts Texts ALEXANDRA SIMÕES DE SIQUEIRA

1.VISUAL LANGUAGE

the modes of circulation and reproducibility of images, but they have also altered our

Images have always been influential in man’s

subjectivity towards the way we see. Nowadays,

existence. We have been producers of images

media convergence falls upon our choices. Ana

since our emergence as a species. In the

Mae Barbosa

contemporary world, images are ubiquitous.

raises awareness about this issue in an

We live under a continuous rainfall of images,

interesting way:

particularly of technical images, such as photography. Today everyone has at least one kind of camera and they use it to take photographs. Nevertheless, this does not mean that people understand the processes involved, nor do they have the guarantee that the images produced are the result of their intentions.

“Technology has transformed not only our daily practices, but also the methods of intellectual production [...]. Perception, memory, mimesis, history, politics, identity, experience, cognition are now mediated by technology. Technology is assimilated by the individual so as to strengthen his/her authority, but it can also mask domination strategies coming from outside. The distinguishing factor between these two hypotheses is critical awareness.” (BARBOSA, 2005: 111)

Technological changes have altered not only

Flusser also addresses the danger of man’s

2. ACTION-RESEARCH

alienation before technology. Departing from the photography in order to denounce the

This work was developed with a group of 13 10-to-

domination that we suffer, often unknowingly,

12-year-olds, in the second half of 2013, during

the author states that the person “dominates

the Art workshops at Escolápio Educational

the device, without, however, knowing what

Center1, in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, a center

happens inside the box. Through input and

which offers continuing education to schools.

output, the photographer dominates the device,

The course lasted 30 hours, with two weekly

but due to the ignorance towards the processes

classes, during the 2nd half of 20132.

inside the box, he/she becomes dominated by it “(FLUSSER, 2002: 25). Nevertheless, Flusser

2.1 THE EXPERIENCE

also suggests other possible outlets: An important starting point for the research was “The Photographic apparatus is the first, the simplest and relatively the most transparent of all devices. The photographer is the first ‘servant’, the most naive and the most feasible to being analyzed. [...] So, the analysis of the photographing gesture, this complexmotion ‘machine-photographer’, can be an exercise for analyzing human existence in a post-industrial situation, being equipped.” (FLUSSER, 2002: 28)

In this sense, our proposal was to conduct a mediation action-research and to create pictures through the unveiling of a technological device such as photography, in an attempt to raise

the proposition formulated by Jorge Larrosa ,which was to “think education from the duo experience/sense” in order to explore a more existential way and aesthetics without falling, however, into existentialism or aestheticism (Bondia, 2002, p. 19). To this end, we proposed 1 Itaka-Escolápios is a Foundation created by the religious order of Pías Schools and by the “escolapic” fraternities. From the social work developed by “Pastoral do Menor” since 1995, “Escolápio” Educational Center was inaugurated in June 2010 and it serves a territory of about 10 neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte.

critical skills in the individual and to promote awareness of their choices, their subjectivities and their role as creators and consumers of symbols.

2 The present research was approved as a Graduation Final Exam in order to obtain the title of specialist in LatoSenso Post-Graduation in Mediation in Arts, Culture and Education at Guignard in the State University of Minas Gerais, under the coordination of Professor Rosvita Kolb Bernardes.

three concurrent workshops: a biographical

them, about the stories related to them and

workshop, a photographic workshop and a

about the feelings they would evoke. Half of

mediation workshop. The workshop is intended

the class brought pictures of themselves with

as a place of provocation, as Malaguzzi

their siblings, from which one could realize

proposed, which allows “new combinations and

the importance of this relationship in the

creative possibilities among different (symbolic)

constitution of those subjects. That is what we

languages” (Malaguzzi, 1990: 84).

see in the words of Davi, aged 11, who chose a picture of himself at the age of 3, in the backyard

2.2 THE BIOGRAPHICAL WORKSHOP

of his house, next to his older brother: “I brought this picture because it represents me too much

According to Jorge Larrosa, “the subject of

[sic] “.

experience is above all a space where the events take place” (Bondia, 2002: 19). Thus,

Delory-Momberger,

this proposal was conceived as a place for

photography, about the work on memory and on

welcoming the subjectivities and narratives

the constitution of the self, states that “facing

of each participant, a methodological choice

the images of the past allows for the retrieval

in which “the narrative is the place where the

of memories, providing a meeting place for the

human individual takes shape, where he/she

individual with their own image and that of those

formulates and experiences the history of his/

close to them, thus triggering a biographical

her own life “(DELORY-Momberger, 2006, p.

work that participates in a movement of

363).

constructing the self”. (DELORY-Momberger,

thinking

about

2010: 96). Already in the first meeting, students were encouraged to voice their relationship with

At the same time, all the images produced

photography. It showed up as a link to the space

during class would portray the neighborhood,

of memory and to the territory of affection. They

the classmates and the relatives and would

were all invited to take to class a photograph

build a new repertoire of images and meanings

which they liked a lot, so they could talk about

for those subjects. This new repertoire would 81

always be shared when the images were

of what we call objective picture, which is the

displayed in the mediation workshops, following

dominant type of image in the modern and

“a methodological pathway in which the stories

contemporary worlds. The construction of small

experienced and shared do not always present

dark cameras, one for each student, followed,

themselves in the form of writing (the most

so that they could thoroughly take possession of

ordinary way, within school procedures),” but

the process and knowledge intertwined with it.

through the offering a space “in which the word joins other kinds of materiality” to the narratives

In a second moment, we built a small photo lab

of the self”. (Bernardes, 2010: 75).

and the first activity to be developed in there was the realization of photograms, which consists of

2.3 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKSHOP

directly printing objects on the black and white photo paper. Over a towel stretched on the floor,

In this space, students were introduced to the

we put up a lot of dry plants (leaves and different

procedures that gave rise to photography, such

small tree branches), and each student could

as the physical process of image formation and

choose those which most appealed to them in

the chemical process of developing and fixing a

order to compose their photograms. According

photographic image.

to Bernardes, “at times such as these, of making choices regarding the materials to be

The first moment was the intervention called

used, that the aesthetic perception manifests

“The Renaissance Experience”, which consists

itself” (Bernardes, 2010: 79). In the pictures

of repeating an action spread from the sixteenth

below, we can see Fabrício, aged 11, carefully

century on: the act of observing inside a

and attentively picking the leaves to compose

camera obscura. A collective “oh” would always

his photogram, which reflects his sensitivity

accompany this moment in the studio when

and his aesthetic choices.

children looked at the projection of outside images on the translucent screen inside the

The activity that followed was a merger of the

camera for the first time. It is a moment of

two previous practices, with the completion of

unveiling a device that enabled the emergence 82

pinhole photographs taken in photographic black and white paper inside a tin can with a pinhole. This is a process which requires the subject to stop and think: stop to look, to miss, to hit, to observe, to examine each other’s work, to think more slowly, to suspend action automatism, to cultivate action, to learn slowness, to be patient and to give him/herself to time and space. In the following photos, we see Thalia, aged 10, preparing her pinhole camera, posing for it and the result of this self-portrait, made digitally FIGURE 1 - Fabrício picking leaves and branches to the realization of his photogram. Source: Alexandra Simões photo - 2013

positive for the mediation workshop. Children quickly took over the lab. They would discuss the variables that determined each

FIGURE 2 – Scanned photogram by Fabrício. Source: Frame of Fabrício (negative and positive) - 2013

FIGURE 3 - Thalia placing her pinhole camera to take a photo. Source: Alexandra Simões photo - 2013

photo and in possession of their analysis and conclusions, they set out to the next shot with a more defined and conscious intention. The empowerment of a process was visible in them, handling its consequences and its products. A fourth moment in this workshop was the construction of small cameras made with matchboxes and color negative roll films. This occasion was a very interesting one as it was the first time they had seen a roll of film and FIGURE 4 - Thalia performing a self-portrait with her pinhole camera. Source: Alexandra Simões photo - 2013

later on a film negative, as they had all been born in the digital era. Sometime later, one student took a photo with a cell phone applying the digital filter of negative effect, clearing transforming the knowledge he had gained into a work intentionally created (see Figure 8). 2.4 THE MEDIATION WORKSHOP The mediation workshop was a place for the circulation of discourse, of the subjects, of art and culture, and so, it was a place for listening

FIGURE 5 – Thalia’s pinhole scanned photo displayed in the mediation workshop and printed for the exhibition. Source: Thalia pinhole photo - 2013

and speaking. As the images would be produced and scanned, they would all be projected, and a collective reading was held, which allowed

each participant to have the opportunity of

For much of the work, in every class one

commenting on the images, on their symbolic

student would be selected to make the

meanings as well as of

revealing their

documentation of the activities with a digital

experiences with that form of expression.

camera made available. These images would also be projected for analysis and reflections

At the same time, the works of some

of the group, which led to a meta-language

photographers would be displayed so students

experience. Students at this point started to

could have access to references of a visual

include their images and themselves in the photographs of others, generating images of great visual power and symbolic appropriation, as we can see in the following pictures. 3. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS Metalanguage

seems

emerge

FIGURE 6 - Ana Guilia and Fabrício commenting on a pinhole photograph during the mediation workshop. Source: Alexandra Simões photo - 2013

culture from an artistic point of view, not a commercial one. The exhibition of these works was always accompanied by collective readings in which they would all be encouraged to review and comment on the images.

FIGURE picture, when a already he had Source:

7 – Photograph by Davi, whose shadow is inserted in the made with a cell phone while covering the mediation studio, photo by Glauber was being projected, who in his turn had exhibited his shadow superimposed on the picture that made of his younger brother with the matchbox camera. Davi’s photo made with a cell phone - 2013

with the development of each other’s works, that is, we all shared workshops. The

workshops

offered

the

necessary

atmosphere for experiencing different gestures of inventing, observing, listening, repeating, suspending action automatism and talking about what happens to us. Fundamentally, FIGURE 8 – Photograph by Junior while covering the mediation workshop, in which he uses the negative filter of the cell phone to make a picture of Fabrício next to his self-portrait done with a matchbox using negative film. Source: Junior’s photo made with a cell phone.

everything was done collaboratively, which showed to all participants the importance of social interaction for cultural and artistic production.

manifestation of symbolic otherness, when

What I realize is that the creative and sensitive

those children include, through the image of the

experience can subvert the fascism of language,

other, their own vision or their own image, in

referring back to the speech of Roland Barthes

a dialogue that greatly expands the possibilities

in his essay “The Lesson”: “But the tongue,

of meanings of an image. It was a creative

as performance of all languages, is neither

exercise of otherness, in which some inserted

reactionary nor progressive; it is simply:

their authorship in the authorship of the others.

fascist; for fascism is not forbidding to say, it is compelling to say” (Barthes, 2007: 14). For him,

The whole of the proposal based itself on the role

only literature would be able to achieve this

of the participants as main characters, on the

system, in other words, the art.

role of the “experience” and on the welcoming of each student’s subjectivity and their individual wisdom in order to build collective knowledge. All of us were involved with the techniques and material used, with the ideas to be explored and 86

REFERENCES Barbosa, A. M. Dilemas da arte-educação como mediação cultural em namoro com as tecnologias contemporâneas. In: ______(org.). Arte-educação Contemporânea: consonâncias internacionais. São Paulo: Cortez, 2005. cap. 2, p. 98-112. Barthes, R. Aula. 2 ed. São Paulo: Cultruix, 2007. 185 p. Bernardes, R. K. Segredos do coração: a escola como espaço para o olhar sensível. Caderno CEDES. Campinas, v. 30, n. 80, p. 72-83, 2010. BONDÍA, J. L. Notas sobre a experiência e o saber de Experiência. Revista Brasileira de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, n. 19, p.20-28, 2002. Delory-Momberger, C. Formação e socialização: os ateliês biográficos de projeto. Revista Educação e Pesquisa, São Paulo, v. 32, n. 2, p. 359-371, 2006. Delory-Momberger, C. Álbuns de fotos de família, trabalho de memória e formação de si. In: VICENTINI, P.P.; ABRAHÃO, M. H. (Org.) Sentidos, potencialidades e usos da (auto) biografia. São Paulo: Cultura Acadêmica, 2010. Delory-Momberger, C. De onde viemos? O que somos? Para onde vamos?. In: Eggert, E.; Fischer, B. D. (Org). Gênero, geração, infância, juventude e família. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, 2012. Flusser, V. Filosofia da Caixa Preta. Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará, 2002. 82 p. Malaguzzi, Loris. História, Idéias e Filosofia Básica. In: EDWARDS, C. (org). As Cem Linguagens da Criança: Abordagem de Reggio Emilia na educação da primeira infância. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 1999. cap. 3, p. 59-104.

Education for all Photos GUILHERME BERGAMINI e Texts MARCELO SEVAYBRICKER

Democratic

societies

presume

educated

unequal and unjust past, has been facing the

citizens, that is to say, it presumes well-informed

challenge of ensuring that essential good to its

and critical people, both because it requires

people.

them to be able to determine their preferences and choose among different alternatives, and

Thus, Brazilian democracy appears to be a

also because it is assumed that they should

dream further away when one notices that,

supervise their representatives and act directly

on the one hand, the precarious conditions of

in politics when necessary. In this context,

public education begins in its most elementary

education is considered a universal right and

dimension – the physical space of schools – and,

hence a duty of the State, which should provide

on the other hand, the ones who are deprived of

it for free and at high standards to the whole

education are those who could benefit from it

community.

the most: the country’s children.

Today Brazil, a country marked by its deeply

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CONTRIBUTORS

Alexandra Simões de Siqueira Alexandra Simões de Siqueira holds a degree in History from UFMG and a Postgraduate Lato Sensu Degree in Mediation in Art, Culture and Education issued by Guignard (UEMG). She has been a researcher at the Museum of Natural History of UFMG and at the French- Brazilian Archaeological Project “Prehistory and Paleo-environment of the Paraná Basin”, coordinated by the Natural History Museum in Paris and USP. She has also been a history teacher in municipal schools in Belo Horizonte. Since 1994 she has been working as a professional photographer, at the disposal of the editorial market in Minas Gerais, and she is currently working with photography in both the artistic and educational levels.

Daniela Paoliello Master’s student at the UERJ ARTS program. She was awarded the 13th Funarte Marc Ferrez Photography Award. She has also participated in exhibitions at the Pampulha Art Museum, Madalena CEI, Curatorial Laboratory SP-ARTE, Galpão 5 Funarte, Cultural Winter in São João del Rei, among others. She also has virtual publications in international magazines such as LatPhotomagazine and L’Oeil de la Photographie, and other spaces like the Photo Latin American Forum, Paraty in Focus and Olhavê. She published her first book: Exile in April 2015.

Flávio Valle Doutorando em Comunicação Social na UFMG. Mestre e Bacharel em Comunicação Social, habilitação Jornalismo, pela mesma instituição. Professor com experiência em atividades de ensino, pesquisa e extensão nas seguintes áreas: Cultura Visual, Fotografia, Imagem, Narrativa e Jornalismo. Editor e Curador da revista Ensaio Fotográfico. Produtor Cultural com experiência na realização de projetos fotográficos. Colaborador do Núcleo de Estudos Tramas Comunicacionais: Narrativa e Experiência. Membro fundador do Fora das Bordas, coletivo de artes visuais integradas.

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Guilherme Bergamini Guilherme Bergamini, 36, was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. He graduated in journalism 10 years ago, he has been working with photography for a long time now. Through his art, Bergamini seeks to express his personal experiences, his way of seeing the world and his anguish. Passionate about photography since childhood, he is an enthusiast of new contemporary possibilities that photographic technique allows one to develop. Critical and persistent, the artist uses photography as a means of political and social criticism. Bergamini was awarded prizes in national competitions and festivals and he participated in group and solo exhibitions. In addition, he has also published photographs in the Brazilian and foreign media.

Helena Teixeira Rios Helena Teixeira Rios holds a degree in Architecture and Urbanism issued in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. She holds a masters degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. In 2012 she began working with photography, aiming to develop photo essays. In September 2014, Rios completed the Complete Course in Photography at Escola da Imagem, and graduated from the PDP in Photography, Art and Culture at Puc Minas, in July 2015. Also in July 2015, she participated in a collective exhibition at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, entitled “Culture and Freedom”, coordinated by professor and photographer Guto Muniz.

Isabel Florêncio Researcher in the field of intermedia, photographer and curator in the axis Brazil / Germany. PhD in Comparative Literature and Semiotic Systems Faculty of Letters / UFMG. Her thesis entitled “Figuralities: from translation to poetics in contemporary art photography” discusses intermediality in contemporary photography and establishes a relationship between the discursive strategies of art photography and literature from the 1970’s onwards. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Communication / UFMG and a degree in Fine Arts from the School of Fine Arts / UFMG.

Junia Mortimer Fotógrafa, professora e pesquisadora em Teoria da Arte e da Arquitetura. É doutora em Arquitetura pelo NPGAU, UFMG (2011-2015), mestre em Artes e Humanidades pela Université de Perpignan, University of Sheffield e Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Erasmus Mundus, 2008-2010) e graduada em Arquitetura pela UFMG (2007).

Laura Fonseca Laura Fonseca is a young Brazilian visual artist; her work focuses on documentary and contemporary photography. Born in Belo Horizonte, she has a degree in Economics from Face / UFMG, majoring in Philosophy at Fafich / UFMG. She has devoted herself entirely to photography since 2011.

Tibério França Fotógrafo e professor de Fotografia da Escola Guignard/UEMG. Entre 2003 e 2006 foi curador da Primeira Fotogaleria de Belo Horizonte realizando exposições. Co-fundador do Núcleo Imagem Latente, coordenador do Forum Mineiro de Fotografia Autoral e realizador da Semana da Fotografia de Belo Horizonte. Membro do Colegiado Setorial de Artes Visuais do Ministério da Cultura no período de 2010 a 2013. Atual Presidente Nacional da Associação de Fotógrafos Fototech e Diretor Administrativo da Rede de Produtores Culturais de Fotografia no Brasil.

CultivArte A CultivArte é um coletivo que trabalha com projetos culturais na área das artes visuais. Formado em 2013 pelos fotógrafos Beto Eterovick, Déia Quintino e Madu Dorella vem atuando na produção de exposições, de publicações, workshops e na organização de eventos ligados à fotografia. A CultivArte participou do Festival de Fotografia de Tiradentes nas edições de 2014 e 2015 com instalações e produção de exposições, além de ser a responsável pela realização das mostras fotográficas e dos eventos culturais que acontecem no Espaço Cultural Sou Café, no CCBB-BH.

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Sponsorship: Production:

Projeto 123/FPC/2013

Support: