O pioneiro Sílvio Berto: fotografia e sociabilidade

Abstract

The article analyzes, based on a pragmatic conception of the photographic act, the professional activity of Sílvio Berto, a pioneering photographer in the city of Goiânia. The meaning of his works, in any kind of photography developed (“social documentation”, urban views and photo documentation), is related to social interaction in situations of production and reception of photo studio images. Berto, habitué of sociability circles in the emerging capital, constructed a professional identity that assimilated, by one side, elements of the modernity discourse that constituted the imaginary of Goiânia. Nevertheless, he recovered, by another side, attitudes and values from portrait painters, besides some features of “social documentation” photography performed in Brazil since the early 20th century.