New monument in Rio pays tribute to first photo taken in South America
The picture, which depicts the Paço Imperial, was taken on January 17, 1840, by Louis Comte, chaplain of the French frigate L'Oriental, harbored in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio de Janeiro's and Paris's Mayors Adilson Pires and Jean-François Martins inaugurated a monument to the first photograph taken in South America. The ceremony took place Friday (Sep. 9), in the Praça XV district downtown. The picture, which depicts the Paço Imperial, was taken on January 17, 1840, by Louis Comte, chaplain of the French frigate L'Oriental, harbored in Rio de Janeiro as part of the so-called Naval School Expedition. Comte used the daguerreotype process, a technique invented by Louis Daguerre, unveiled to the world months afterwards.
The news of the first photo was published three days later in the afternoon issue of Jornal do Commercio, the city's main newspaper at the time. The camera used by Comte had been acquired by Brazil's Emperor Dom Pedro II, who became the country's first photographer and gathered one of the largest photography collections of the 19th century. Today, the collection is housed in the Biblioteca Nacional.
The Paço Imperial was the official residence of Brazilian monarchs since the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil in 1808. The building served this purpose up to 1889, when the country became a republic.
The monument is a gift from Paris's city authorities to Rio de Janeiro as part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the coming of the French Artistic Mission in Brazil, which arrived in the country in 1816 and left its mark on Brazilian country through artists like Jean Baptiste Debret.
In the view of Rio vice Mayor Adilson Pires, the present has a great significance, as France is still a source of inspiration to Brazilians for its values of liberty, equality, and fraternity: “I'd say these are values that are of no ideological nature. Rather, they're inherently human.”
Paris vice Mayor Jean-François Martins said the monument celebrates the friendly ties that bring the “world's two most beautiful and visited cities” together through photography.
Martins went on to note that, when the Frenchman made the first register of Rio, two centuries back, his love for photography was already manifest, as well as the avant-garde nature of the two cities.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: New monument in Rio pays tribute to first photo taken in South America
