In the month of Black Consciousness, an exhibition honors a photographer who is a reference in dedication to the black people: Walter Firmo.
The more than seven decades of the artist’s career are presented in the exhibition “Walter Firmo: in the verb of silence the synthesis of the scream”on display at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro.
There are more than 260 works, produced since 1950, which portray the colors and nuances of the characters, especially the black population, highlighted by Firmo in his photos. For the artist, now 85 years old, this is a special moment.
“How not to be happy, and also to always have a chill down your spine. It is as if we were an actor who is going to debut a play. He’s going to be like this, always worried. And, within this spectrum, we are always waiting to open the curtain and start the show. So I’m happy,” he said.
Repercussion of the work
Along seven thematic centers, it is possible to check out works of repercussion in the career of Walter Firmo, such as photos of icons such as Cartola, Pixinguinha, Arthur Bispo do Rosário and Dona Ivone Lara. For the artist, a unique moment to show the differential of his work.
“I am a seducer. So, my work is based, materialized, based exactly on this attitude of seduction. From working with the imaginary, you know, it’s not reality, everything I do here is a journey, a prosody, a way of showing himself to be a poet in what he likes to do, which is the photographic image”, he adds.
One of the show’s curators, Sergio Burgi, explains that the selection process for the works was complex, as the photographer’s collection includes more than 140,000 images.
“During the period of the pandemic, we had the forecast, the exhibition, including having been launched before, but, with the pandemic, we spent about two years with the opportunity to talk to Firmo weekly, two meetings a week, electronically viewing the collection, With that, we built a very structured view of his work over these seven decades”, reveals Burgi.
Sample “Walter Firmo: in the verb of silence the synthesis of the scream” will have a long season at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, where it can be seen until March next year. Entrance is free. The CCBB is located at Rua Primeiro de Março, 66, in downtown Rio.
