The Latin American Colloquia and the Institutionalisation of Brazilian Photography

This article describes the institutionalisation of Brazilian photography in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the context of the other events relating to photography in Latin American countries. This process has close links with the first two Latin American Colloquia of Photography held in Mexico City in 1978 and 1981. These Colloquia promoted the creation of connections between Brazilian photographers and photographic institutions and those in Spanish-speaking Latin America. They also made it possible to bring European and North American institutional photographic experiences to Latin America, and helped to disseminate a version of Latin American photography in Europe, one that was based on a socially engaged documentary, the genre which was showcased and foregrounded at the Colloquia.