Origins

My work deals with the issues of colonialsm, capitalism and slavery in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Origins

Origins is a body of work attempting to scratch the surface of a rich but brutal

history. A history of discovery and exploitation in the mineral rich area of

Minas Gerais, Brazil (in Portuguese the word exploração translates to both

exploitation and exploration). My work cannot even begin to describe the

wounds left on the earth and humanity by the avarice of man, I can only try

to document the marks left behind.

This project is composed of coffee-stained cyanotypes, one of

the first photographic processes developed in the mid-19th century. Its

principal active ingredient is iron salts, evoking

the area known as the “Iron Triangle”, where the imagery for this work was

taken. The state contains the world’s richest veins of iron ore, the mining of

which comprises much of its economic activity. Slavery was essential to the

cycle of gold mining that began in the 17th century and preceded the iron

industry of today. While the institution of slavery was abolished

in Brazil (in 1888, the last country in the Americas), its systems and structures

have persisted to this day. The process of staining the images in coffee not

only alters the color and tone of the images but also references one of the

main activities of slavery in Brazil in the 19th century, the harvesting of

coffee beans. The coffee and iron salts used to render these images are

themselves commodities that are still mined and made in the area (coffee,

iron, gold, silver, people). The process of staining also resonates with the idea

of remnants. My work is concerned with recording the reflections and

shadows I perceive of this history as well as the direct evidence of it.

My work is concerned with recording the reflections and shadows of a

history that is opaque at best. As in my own country (USA) it is a story that is

sordid and has permeated the bedrock foundations of society. Capitalism,

colonialism the political systems were all created with the explicit disregard

for the commodification of human beings who were considered less valuable

than the commodities they were extracting in order to be sent back to

Portugal.

In Brazil there existed the Estrada Real (Royal Road) a road that extends from

Paraty on the coast all the way to Diamantina in the interior of Minas Gerais

(the town was given its name due to the discovery and extraction of

diamonds). The Royal Road was a tool of supremacy used to guarantee the

rich mineral flow from Brazil to Portugal. It simultaneously was meant to

limit the potential of Brazil by making it dependent on and subservient to

Portugal. The Estrada Real, despite its haughty name was meant to choke the

ability of Brazil to stand independently from Portugal. The country was

poorly educated, and all manufactured goods were meant to come from

Portugal with the intention of making Brazil a permanent vassal to the crown.

As a historian as well as a photographer I am fascinated by that system of

supremacy. It’s intricate systems of control that the people learned to live

with. Those who held power became the elites and those who toiled under

their yoke became accustomed with that which they could not change. The

system was installed, and society grew around it. Just as it did in the US. The

modern institutions of capitalism were being invented at the time and they

too accommodated themselves to the prevailing systems of supremacy.

As evil as these legacies are there was a bright side. The culture of the

peoples who were part of this complex system exists and is vibrant today.

The incredible culture of colonial Brazil is exemplified by UNESCO world

heritage cities like Ouro Preto, Congonhas and Diamantina, breathtaking in

their beauty. Equally incredible is the culture that developed from the mix of

African’s brought to mine the riches so desired by the Portuguese crown.

Today these places stand as monuments to a past that was built by ambition

and avarice.