The City as Photographic Text: Urban Documentary Photography of So Paulo [Hardcover]

The City as Photographic Textoffers the first comprehensive presentation of photography on São Paulo. But more than just a study of one city’s photographic legacy, this book is a manual for how to understand and talk about Latin American photography in general. Focusing on major figures and referencing widely available books of their work, David William Foster offers a unique analysis of how photographers have contributed to our understanding of the megalopolis São Paulo has become. Eschewing a conventional historical approach, Foster explores how best to interpret visual urban life. In turn, by focusing interest on the photographic text and the ways in which it creates an interpretive meaning for the city, rather than rehearsing the circumstances under which the photographs were taken, this study provides a model for productive comment on urban photography as a project of visual meaning with important artistic attributes. As a unique entry in the inventory of scholarly writing on São Paulo,The City as Photographic Textadds to our understanding of the enormous cultural significance this city holds as a world-class urban center.“Foster’s final book on photography offers a compelling introduction to a few relatively unknown photographers in Brazil. It is significant that a writer with such a diverse body of publications over the course of his lengthy career devoted himself to Latin-American photography as his final area of focus.” —Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies“The City as Photographic Textis a visual treasure trove documenting an impressive range of modern São Paolo’s urban stories. David William Foster’s latest book combines close readings with energetic prose and an expansive command of Brazilian cultural history to assert the democratic nature and the narrative potential of urban photography.” —Benjamin Fraser, University of Arizona, editl³q