The spring in the southern hemisphere began with the seventh edition of the Paraty em Foco Photo Festival—one of the most important events dedicated to photography in Latin America. From Wednesday, September 21 until last Sunday, Paraty, a charming colonial town located on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro, hosted 21 exhibitions, more than 20 workshops and a series of projections and encounters, all packed into a five-day festival.
Founded by Portuguese colonizers in 1667, Paraty was an old export port of gold and precious stones that were extracted from the Minas Gerais region. Besides Paraty em Foco, this town has been in the Brazilian cultural spotlight for hosting events such as FLIP—Paraty International Literary Festival and the International Paraty Film Festival—that attract visitors from all over the world.
Drawing the attention of a growing audience composed mostly of professional and amateur photographers, the seventh edition of Paraty em Foco focused on the subject of the #Future. With a writing style inspired by Twitter hashtags, this year’s themed title made reference to the topics recently touched upon by some major photography institutions, including the museum and magazine FOAM with its project What’s Next, and the manifest exhibition From Here On, curated by Martin Parr, Joan Fontcouberta Clement Chéroux, Erik Kessels, and Joachim Schmid, and presented at the last edition of the Rencontres d’Arles Photo Festival.
During the exhibition of works such as Sunset Portraits and TVs from Craigslist by Penelope Umbrico, Sem Texto by Miguel Rio Branco, or Escultura do inconsciente by Tatewaki Nio, Paraty em Foco sought to not only discuss the relationship between photography and its use on image hosting websites such as Flickr or Instagram, but also reflect on the way photography displays the world’s future.
Indeed, one of the main attractions of this year’s edition was the series of round tables and interviews. Presented as variations of the main theme, these interviews offered a rich panorama of the curators’, critics’ and artists’ practices and points of view. “Always Future” featuring Paulo Herkenhoff—curator of the 24th Sao Paulo’s Biennial (1998) and adjunct Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1999–2002)—and photographer Miguel Rio Branco presented a high-quality debate between two major personalities in the Brazilian arts scene. Other highlights were: “Is there a future?” featuring Pieter Hugo and “Female future” featuring Olivia Arthur.
In addition, Paraty em Foco hosted photography auctions organized by the Brazilian curator Isabel Amado. Stimulating the practice of collecting even between those who normally can’t afford it, the auctions are an important part of the festival and have been taking place since its first edition. They are definitely a rare opportunity to acquire works of well-known and new talented photographers at affordable prices.
Sabrina Moura
Paraty em Foco is directed by Giancarlo Mecarelli, Maxime Delmotte and Iatã Cannabrava.
