Celso Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro RJ 1957)
Photographer.
Celso de Oliveira Silva started photographing in 1975 while working as a laboratory assistant at the Fotografismo e Artes studio, in Rio de January. Then he moves to São Paulo and begins his career as a photojournalist, collaborating in several newspapers and magazines such as Veja, Istoé, Visão, Tennis Esporte and O Globo. In 1980, he moved to Fortaleza, where he joined the team coordinated by Chico Albuquerque (1917-2000) in the newspaper O Povo and participates in the group of photographers dependent on Luz. (1966), in 1994, created the agency and publisher Tempo d'Imagem, with the aim of developing documentary essays and photography books. His work is focused, above all, on the recording of cultural manifestations and popular festivals in the Northeast. Participates in several exhibitions, both in Brazil and abroad, among which the 5th Latin American Photography Colloquium, held in Mexico City, stands out. In the late 1990s, with Santana, Antonio Augusto Fontes (1948), ed Viggiani (1958) and Elza Lima (1952), develops the Brasil sem Fronteiras project, documenting border cities in the west of the country. The work gives rise to a book of the same name, released in 2001. Oliveira lives between Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro, where he maintains a branch of the publishing house Tempo d'Imagem.
Critical comment
Celso Oliveira is mainly dedicated to projects of documentary photography. Unlike daily photojournalism in which the professional records specific events and has no control over what will be published, the photodocumentaryist chooses the subject, approaches it in a extended time and edits its own images. In order to affirm a personal point of view, for him aesthetic issues are as important as the representation of the referent. The work is seen as a combination of art and journalism and its objective is almost always to carry out books and exhibitions. From a historical point of view, Oliveira's work aligns with the international documentary tradition represented by the founders of the Magnum Photos agency: Robert Capa (1913-1954), Henry Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), David Seymour (1911-1956) and George Rodger (1908-1995). For them, photography is not an impartial testimony, but a form of social intervention. they could reveal little-known realities and denounce injustices.
Oltheme's main themes are popular culture and religious festivals in the north and northeast of Brazil. In his work, the framing and ordering of the elements in the plane move the photograph away from a merely objective dimension. Seeking to avoid the immediacy of the message, the photographer often shows fragmented, blurred or covered by objects. As in an unfinished design that makes something that is not complete present, the blurs and cuts lead the observer to imagine what the forms of things that are hidden are like.
Criticism
"In 1972, a An article published in the magazine Realidade about the Seca do Nordeste, in Ceará, with photos by Walter Firmo, was of fundamental importance for Celso Oliveira to decide on a career as a photographer. ´When I saw these photos, I thought, one day I want to go to the Northeast. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Celso, since the age of 13, brought with him the desire to reunite with the roots. In the Northeast, in 1982, a determination: to photograph the issue of religiosity. At first, the charm for the luminosity of Ceará is expressed through of a color photograph. In 1986, he made the option for black-and-white photography, to highlight the sharpening of tension and contrast over the light of Ceará.
Several photojournalists influenced the work of Celso Oliveira. With his friend Ed Viggiani, in 1982, in Fortaleza, he has the opportunity to evaluate the use of black-and-white photography, in the material produced by ED about religiosity.
Other influences have come over time. From the coexistence with Tiago, it captures the importance of the rigor of the finishing of the image and the presentation of the work. From the reading of the great masters, highlights the visual references of Cartier-Bresson, Joseph Koudelka and Sebastião Salgado, who appear as seeds waiting for a new planting".
Ângela Magalhães and Nadja Pilgrim
Museum of Ceará. Who are we: Photography - Tiago Santana and Celso Oliveira Text Angela Magalhães, Nadja Peregrino; Translation Thais Costa Fortress: Museu do Ceará. 20 p., Il. P&b.
Finders
Collection Joaquim Paiva
Pirelli Collection/Masp of Photographs - São Paulo SP
Collection of the Cultural Foundation of Curitiba - Curitiba PR
Collective exhibitions
1982 - Fortaleza CE - Photography, at the Raimundo Cela Gallery
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st FotoNordeste, at Infoto/Funarte
1991 - Fortaleza CE - 41st Salon of April, at the Cultural Foundation of Fortaleza
1991 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Photoriography, at MAM/RJ
1991 - São Paulo SP - Photojournalism of the 80s, in the MIS/SP
1992 - Belém PA - 1st Pará Salão de Arte Contemporânea, at the Cultural Foundation of Pará
1992 - Fortaleza CE - 42nd Salon of April - 1st Prize
1992 - Munich (Germany) - Nahe Dem Wildem Herzen (500 years of Discovery of America), at Aspekte Galerie - Honorable Mention
1993 - Belém PA - 12th Salão Arte Pará, at the Romulo Foundation Maiorana
1993 - Belém PA - 2nd Salão Paraense de Arte Contemporânea, at the Cultural Foundation of Pará Tancredo Neves
1993 - Fortaleza CE - Postal Art Ceará, dependent on light, in the Gallery of the Tourism Center
1993 - Fortaleza CE - Contemporary photography from Ceará, at Galeria Ignes Fiúza
1993 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Brazilian Photography, International Photo Meeting/NAFOTO, at SESC Pompéia
1994 - Belém PA - 3rd Pará Salão de Arte Contemporânea, at the Cultural Foundation of Pará - 2nd Prize
1994 - Belém PA - Arte Pará, at Galeria Romulo Maiorana
1994 - Fortaleza CE - Who are we
1994 - João Pessoa PB - Who are we, in the 1st Paraíba Photography Week
1994 - Niterói RJ - Who are we
1994 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Who are we
1995 - Belém PA - Who are we We, at the Romulo Maiorana Gallery
1995 - Belém PA - Salon of Small Formats - Acquisition Award
1995 - Herten (Germany) - Licht Bilder, 3 Internationale Fotage
1995 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian press conference in the 80s and 90s, at the FAAP Cultural Space
1995 - São Paulo SP - Investigação Brasil, at the CCSP
1995 - São Paulo SP - The Brazilian portrait, 2nd International Month of Photography
1996 - Belém PA - 15th Salão Arte Pará, at the Museu de Arte do Belém
1996 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Muestra of Latin American photography, 5th Latin American Colloquium, in downtown la Imagen
1996 - Cologne (Germany) - Licht Bilder, Junge Brasilianische photography (Photokina), at Die Galerie Lichtblick
1996 - Curitiba PR - Brazil Shows Your Face, International Photography Biennial
1996 - London (England) - New crossings at The Photographer's Gallery
1996 - Ouro Preto MG - Who are we at the Winter Festival at UFMG
1996 - São Paulo SP - 6th Pirelli Collection/Masp of Photographs, at Masp
1996 - São Paulo SP - Sertões, at Itaú Cultural
1997 - Belém PA - Arte Pará: Fronteiras, at the Arte do Belém - Acquisition Award
1997 - Recife PE - Who are we, at the Observatory Gallery
1998 - Amsterdam (Holland) - Brasil Bom de Bola
1998 - Fortaleza CE - Brasil Bom de Bola, at Galeria do Ibeu
1998 - Fortaleza CE - Ceará and Pernambuco: Dragons and Lions, at the Dragão do Mar Center of Art and Culture
1998 - Madrid (Spain) - Brasil Bom de Bola
1998 - Paris (France) - Brazil Bom de Bola, at the Musée du Louvre
1998 - Recife PE - Brasil Bom de Bola, at the Observatory Gallery
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brasil Bom de Bola, at the Museum of the Republic
1998 - São Paulo SP - Brasil Bom de Bola, at MIS/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - Fronteiras, at Itaú Cultural
1999 - Wolfsburg (Germany) - Brasilianische photography 1946 bis 1998, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
2000 - Belém PA - Arte Pará 2000, at the Galeria da Residencia
2000 - Curitiba PR - Brazil without borders, at the Centro Cultural do Barão Solar
2000 - Recife PE - The Court will pass: a look at the Carnival of Pernambuco, at the Jaime Arôxa Dance Center
2000 - Recife PE - Images of Fronteira, at the Malakoff Cultural Observatory
2001 - Belém PA - 20th Salão Arte Pará, in the Residence Gallery
2001 - Houston (United States) - Brazil Without Borders, at the Houston Center for Photography
2001 - Pittsburg (United States) - Brazil Without Borders, at the Silver Eye Center For Photography
2001 - São Paulo SP - Mar de Luz, at Casa da Fotografia Fuji
2002 - São Paulo SP - Visions and Aluminum: Contemporary Brazilian Photography from the Joaquim Paiva Collection, in the Lucas Nogueira Garcez Pavilion - Oca
Source: Itaú Cultural
