José Bassit (Sao Paulo, 1957) is one of the most important photographers of his generation. Photojournalist for the major Brazilian press of the 1980s and 1990s, he gradually left it to favor of more personal and in-depth work. At the end of the 1990s, he traveled across the Northeast of Brazil to document popular religious events, in particular Christian pilgrimages in the sertão, an arid and very poor region, then in the 2000s he explored the coast of Sao Paulo during the feast of Yemanja, the sea goddess of Afro-Brazilian religions.
Since 2016, José Bassit has devoted himself to street photography in his hometown. His glass eye which became the title of his latest book, published by Vento Leste editions (2021) captures the daily effervescence of the Brazilian economic capital. By unveiling his anonymous characters, Bassit also reveals how comics, manga, graffiti, tattoos, advertising, cinema and photography are visually inscribed in the heart of the contemporary megalopolis, mixing pop culture and carnival. . A tribute to street photography and its vocation to make visible the spectacle of the world.
Cristianne Rodrigues
