Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ivo-ferreira-da-silva-25402" aria-label="More by Ivo Ferreira da Silva" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Ivo Ferreira da Silva</a>
Ghost City
Lent by the Tate Americas Foundation, courtesy of Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2017
<p>This black and white photograph is a vintage print by Brazilian photographer Ivo Ferreira da Silva. It depicts an arrangement of numerous perforated bricks which have been piled up and set at angles to one another so as to suggest the illusion of city streets and buildings. Yet, as the title suggests, on closer inspection, this is a fabricated city devoid of human presence. The image is shot in high contrast, so that the areas of light and shadow emphasise the abstract nature of the forms. Ferreira da Silva was a member of one of Brazil’s numerous ‘photoclubs’ (see also the work of fellow Brazilian photoclub members Claudio H. Feliciano [Tate L03996], Roberto Marconato [Tate L03998–L03999] and José Yalenti [Tate P14401–P14402]) and made and exhibited work from the 1950s onwards. Historically referred to as amateurs or enthusiasts, photoclub photographers often had little or no formal training, but were nevertheless dedicated to making and exhibiting their work in their spare time. This absence of formal training often meant that their approach was unbound by convention and experimental in both technique and subject matter.</p>
paper print photograph gelatin silver
31 July 2024 – 12 January 2025
2025-01-12
31 July 2024 – 12 January 2025
2025-01-12
2024-07-31
Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
2024-07-31
Brickworks
Collection based display
Ghost City
image: 235 × 394 mm
Lent by the Tate Americas Foundation, courtesy of Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2017
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<p>This black and white photograph is a vintage print by Brazilian photographer Ivo Ferreira da Silva. It depicts an arrangement of numerous perforated bricks which have been piled up and set at angles to one another so as to suggest the illusion of city streets and buildings. Yet, as the title suggests, on closer inspection, this is a fabricated city devoid of human presence. The image is shot in high contrast, so that the areas of light and shadow emphasise the abstract nature of the forms. Ferreira da Silva was a member of one of Brazil’s numerous ‘photoclubs’ (see also the work of fellow Brazilian photoclub members Claudio H. Feliciano [Tate L03996], Roberto Marconato [Tate L03998–L03999] and José Yalenti [Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/yalenti-iron-tentacles-p14401" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P14401</span></a>–<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/yalenti-architecture-no-7-p14402" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P14402</span></a>]) and made and exhibited work from the 1950s onwards. Historically referred to as amateurs or enthusiasts, photoclub photographers often had little or no formal training, but were nevertheless dedicated to making and exhibiting their work in their spare time. This absence of formal training often meant that their approach was unbound by convention and experimental in both technique and subject matter.</p>
<p>The emergence and popularity of photoclubs in Brazil in the late 1930s was seminal in developing a modernist photographic language in Latin America. At precisely the same time that modernist painting, sculpture, architecture and design were flourishing in Brazil, so too photographers began to experiment with new forms and techniques. The tradition of photoclubs, both in Brazil and around the world, dates back to the nineteenth century, reaching a high point in Brazil between 1940 and the 1960s. Gradually these photoclubs became more experimental and were referred to locally as ‘photoclubismo’. Founded in 1939, Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante (later known as Escola Paulista) based in São Paulo, was one of the largest and most prominent photoclubs in Brazil. Photoclubs created a context for the exchange of equipment, experiences, techniques and innovations, as well as a mingling of both amateurs and professionals. A number of the photographers had commercial careers in parallel with their avant-garde practice. However, many operated purely as enthusiasts, largely in their spare time; they nevertheless often built up extensive bodies of work and exchanged ideas and exhibited work in photoclubs across the globe. Evidence of such exchange and networks can be seen on the back of prints such as this one, which were stamped with each location in which they were exhibited, ranging from regional areas of Brazil to photoclubs in Mexico, Japan and Australia.</p>
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<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Adriano Pedrosa, <i>MASP. FCCB – Coleção Museu Arte de São Paulo Fotocine Clube</i>, São Paulo 2015.<br/>Lucas Menezes, ‘Where are the pretas of Bahia and the morenas of Rio? The collection of Brazilian photographs of the Société Française de Photographie’, conference paper, May 2017, published online at <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316788740_Where_are_the_pretas_of_Bahia_and_the_morenas_of_Rio_The_collection_of_Brazilian_photographs_of_the_Societe_Francaise_de_Photographie">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316788740_Where_are_the_pretas_of_Bahia_and_the_morenas_of_Rio_The_collection_of_Brazilian_photographs_of_the_Societe_Francaise_de_Photographie</a>, accessed 1 September 2017.</p>
<p>Shoair Mavlian<br/>October 2016, updated September 2017</p>
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Summary
2018-03-08T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT