PHOTOGRAPHY

In 2005, when Mauro Pinto presented in Maputo the project "Ports of Convergence", the audience at the French Cultural Centre (and later at the National Art Museum) had the chance to testimony the extraordinary images of Maputo's and Luanda's commercial ports. It was only the beginning of the work but already emanated great ambition. More than just exhibiting fragments of places, it dealt with transforming these places in starting points. 'MAPUTO - LUANDA - LUBUMBASHI' without directly belonging to this project, stems from it and gathers three series that are, in the end, the result of the negotiation between the photographer and the privacy of his subjects, the spaces and the elements depicted. The exhibition features images of places that were once at the centre of massive and brutal migrations, places mistreated and worn by time but also melancholic, almost intimate interior scenes.

One of the coloured photographs on display shows us the interior of a barbershop. Several elements articulate this image: the mirrors, the posters of sports and music idols, lighting and finally people, posing as if on a set.

'Maputo' and 'Luanda' series reveal another side of the photographer's work. In black and white analogical photographs (now abandoned by many photographers in Maputo) and clearly influenced by Ricardo Rangel, Mauro Pinto adopts a more consciously critical discourse. The shoe seller photography or the one depicting religious ceremonies reflect different social realities but still the intention of photographing the fragile is clear. The artist assumes his role of spokesman.

Mauro Pinto brings all of this to his work with no compromise and no intention of historical reconstruction. Images that are at times provoking but always artistically inspiring and a huge capacity of capturing contrast, essence, space, make his photography unique in Mozambique.

Jorge Dias
Visual Artist, Curator
Mozambique