Cristiano Mascaro

Cristiano Mascaro began his academic career in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of
the University of São Paulo. After graduating in 1968, he joined the first team of photographers of
Veja [Look] magazine, where he worked as a photojournalist until 1972. In 1970, he met a fellow
Brazilian, Sebastiao Salgado while the future photographer was studying economics in Paris. 1979
marks the publication of Mascaro’s first book, A Cidade [The City]. It merges straightforward
photojournalism and architectural photography, documenting buildings, squares and monuments
without abstracting them from their living environment, placing them in the context of the varied
landscape that characterizes large cities. This same concept was amplified in the 1996 publication
of Luzes da Cidade [City Lights], with Salgado graciously contributing a glowing introduction that
credits his friendship with Cristiano as the initial inspiration for his now legendary career in
photography. Mascaro takes advantage of São Paulo's everyday scenes and characters to populate
the architectural universe of the metropolis. He seems intent on catching that which is fleeting and
instantaneous, and contrasting it with that which is built and permanent. There is also a historical
component to his work, a documentation of changing landscapes. His interest in modern buildings
and changes in the urban environment, was the crux of his 1994 exhibition, Brazil: Recent
Architecture, held at the Museum of German Architecture in Frankfurt, Germany. During this period,
he concluded his masters with the dissertation, A Fotografia na Interpretação do Espaço Urbano
[Photography as a Means to Interpret the Urban Environment], in 1986, and earned a doctorate with
his thesis, A Fotografia e a Arquitetura [Photography and Architecture], in 1995.

"Quintal em Salvador 1991" by Cristiano Mascaro

His first two books are permeated by Mascaro's innate sense of geometrical vision. He stresses the
lines and curves of the subjects through light and shadow plays which emphasize the architectural
component
of his photography, and also portray a cultural relationship between the inhabitants and the urban
spaces they populate. A photograph made at the Pinheiros Riverside Expressway, in São Paulo,
shows two workers against the background of an empty billboard and dozens of power lines and
utility poles, performing what seems to be a repair. They are seen from behind standing on ladders,
stretching to fix a cable onto the metal framework. In this photograph, time is suspended, a
temporary lag seems to halt the impulse towards modernization conveyed in the industrial
undertones of the image.

"Arcos da Lapa 1995" by Cristiano Mascaro

With the release of São Paulo, published in 2002, the concept of recording everyday occurrences
became even more apparent in the artist’s work. It is about minor happenings, trivial scenes
registered at birthday parties and amusement parks, in central São Paulo or in the many seaside and
countryside towns of São Paulo state. Geometrical forms are still present, though sometimes in a
more suggestive manner than in former works. Now, the landscapes possess a travel book character.
What the book reveals is the photographer's ability to merge into the everyday life of countless
cities. Either by expressive use of chiarascuro or the heightened ability to capture particular
moments and gestures, Mascaro creates images which, though understated, express relationships
between people and between people and their cities. The International Museum of Photography at
George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Centre National d'Art et
de Culture Georges Pompidou, both in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro and
Modern Art Museum of Sao Paulo, Brazil are just a few of the prominent institutions beside the
many private individuals around the world who have placed the work of Cristiano Mascaro in their
permanent collections. Cristiano’s first portfolio from Schoeler Editions containing 18 choice
photographs is available now for $3600 and limited to an edition of 60 copies.