The Italian Ambassador in Brasilia, Francesco Azzarello and the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Livia Raponi will present the book “Italians behind the camera. Unique approaches and glimpses as photography blossomed in Brazil” at the auditorium of the “Centro Culturale Banco do Brasil” (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro on 4 November. This will act as one of the contributions to the bicentennial celebrations of the Independence of Brazil.
Ambassador Azzarello states that “nobody knows that the Italian pioneers of the great emigration of the 1870s were trailblazers in the art of photography in Brazil, standing out in terms of their talent and technical expertise. Emperor Don Pedro II himself was a great enthusiast and dedicated his collection of over 25 thousand photos to his wife, the Neapolitan Teresa of the House of Bourbon. This work makes an important contribution to the story of bilateral cultural relations.”
Director Raponi says “the work of the nine photographers chosen helps us to understand the importance of the Italian contribution to the construction of an image of Brazil as a nation, in a geographic, anthropological, cultural and aesthetic sense. The extensive movement around the country by the photographers gave us extraordinary pictures of Brazil’s interior, from the Amazon rainforest to the Rio Grande do Sul. Even though some of them took part in grand exhibitions, including international, they did not always obtain adequate recognition. Our book aims to remember and honour them.
