Walter Firmo – A Short Timeline
Andrea Wanderley
1937
Born in Irajá, a district in the north of the city of Rio de Janeiro, on June 1, Walter Firmo Guimaraes da Silva was the only son of José Baptista da Silva and Maria de Lourdes Guimaraes da Silva from Paraná. According to Firmo, he grew up “under the suburban stars at the time of Méier”.
1952-1954
Starts to become interested in photography and gets his first Rolleiflex. Does a course at the Brazilian Association of Photographic Art (ABAF). Photographs his family and colleagues from school and the neighborhood. Frequents the bookstore and magazine stand at Santos Dumont airport, where he browses international illustrated magazines such as Life, Paris Match and Oggi, analyzing the work of foreign photojournalists. Avid reader of the Brazilian illustrated magazine O Cruzeiro, which included work by photographers such as José Medeiros, Luciano Carneiro and Jean Manzon.
1955-1959
Starts work at the newspaper Última Hora. first as an apprentice and then as a professional photographer. Publishes weekly articles in the column “Behind the Goal” between 1957 and 1959.
1957
Serves in the 1st Army Infantry Regiment, where he meets the journalist and future musical critic Sérgio Cabral. Meets him again around 1959, when Cabral is working as a reporter for the Rio newspaper Diário Carioca. Firmo credits him and the composer and poet Hermínio Bello de Carvalho for his introduction and access to the world of samba.
1960
Starts working at the newspaper Jornal do Brasil in January, when the new graphic design was being introduced, with a strong emphasis on photography. He work is featured on the front page of the newspaper.
1961
Participates in the first national photojournalism exhibition, in the concourse of Santos Dumont airport.
1963
Aloisio Firmo, his son with Maria do Carmo, born on August 6.
1964
Publishes the series of reports 100 dias na Amazônia de ninguém (100 Days in No Man’s Amazon) in the Caderno B supplement of the Jornal do Brasil, with his texts and images. Receives the Esso Reporting Award of 1963 for this work, the third award won by professionals from the Jornal do Brasil.
1965
Leaves the Jornal of Brazil and joins the team at the new magazine Realidade in São Paulo.
1966
Realidade is launched in April. The reportage “Brasileiros Go Home” by Firmo and Luis Fernando Mercadante is published in the first edition and wins the magazine its first Esso Journalism Award. Returns to Rio to work at the magazine Manchete. Seeing American photographer David Drew Zingg’s photo essays in the magazine, he starts to work with color photography, in which he will become a virtuoso.
1967
Eduardo Firmo, his son with Dionéia, is born on January 5.
Takes his iconic photographs of musician Pixinguinha in his backyard while working on an article for Manchete with reporter Muniz Sodré. Works for Editora Bloch in New York as a correspondent for the magazine for about six months, reporting on the USA, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean countries. Influenced by the black power movement, he grows his hair into the Black is Beautiful style. On returning to Brazil, he becomes more active in the fight against racial discrimination, taking iconic images of important names in black culture and always valuing the black population in his photography.
1971
He is cited in the “Photography” article in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Leaves Manchete and turns freelance.
1972
Starts photographing for the recording industry and starts photographing Brazil’s traditional festivals. Works for the magazine Veja as a freelance photographer.
1973
Founds the photographic agency Câmera 3 with Klaus Mayer and Sebastian Barbosa, leaving it in 1974. Between 1973 and 1982, he wins seven awards in Nikon’s International Photography Competition.
1974
Works for Veja from 1974 to 1979. The book As escolas de samba: o quê, quem, como, quando e por quê (Samba schools: What, Who, How, When and Why), by Sérgio Cabral, with photos by Walter Firmo and preface by Lucio Rangel, is published by Editora Fontana.
1979-1980
Works for about nine months for the magazine Tênis Sport, published by Rio Gráfica, taking the cover photograph for the first edition: “Pelé with two tennis balls in the place of his eyes”.
1979
Photographs the singer Clementina de Jesus in her home in Lins de Vasconcelos.
1981-1984
Works for state-owned companies such as Furnas and Petrobras as a freelance photographer, as well as for the recording industry.
1982
Publishes a set of 24 black and white postcards with photographers Cafi, Pedro de Moraes and Miguel Rio Branco entitled Os brasileiros (The Brazilians), with an introduction by Darcy Ribeiro.
1983
Ensaio no tempo (Essay in Time), a retrospective exhibition of 200 of his color and black and white photographs from the last 25 years curated by Zeka Araujo, is shown at The Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition was then shown in São Paulo, Fortaleza, Buenos Aires, Curitiba, Havana and Cabo Verde.
1984
Organizes the Photography Workshop of the 3rd National Week of Photography in Fortaleza and the workshop How to Make a Photo Reportagem in the 3rd Latin American Photography Colloquium in Havana, Cuba.
1985
At the invitation of João Farkas, at the time Editor-in-Chief of Photography for the magazine IstoÉ, he started working in the magazine’s branch offices in Rio de Janeiro in July, remaining until July 1986. Photographs personalities such as Paulo Moura and Celso Furtado. The July 31, 1985, issue of IstoÉ, publishes the article “Quando explode a vida” (When Life Explodes) about Arthur Bispo do Rosário, the first article about the artist in the mainstream press.
Wins the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro’s Golden Dolphin Award, in the Photography category, for the “sensitivity of his photographs, especially the poetic of the Brazilian people and their reality”.
1986
Appointed Director of the National Institute of Photography by the Minister of Culture, Celso Furtado, a position he will hold until 1991.
The exhibition Espelho rebelde: fotografia brasileira contemporânea (Rebel Mirror: Brazilian Contemporary Photography], curated by Pedro Vasquez and including works from 12 Brazilian photographers, including Firmo, opens during Photography Month in Paris. The exhibition is shown at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro in 1990.
1987
Appointed Adviser to the National Copyright Council.
1989
Walter Firmo: Antonoliga fotográfica (Walter Firmo: A Photographic Anthology) published by Editora Dazibao.
1990
Travels to Aquila, Italy, to support presentations by Brazilian musicians such as Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil at the Last Cry Ecological Festival. Firmo and the visual artist Rubens Gerchman hold exhibitions in Moscow in September.
1991
Returns to working as a freelance. The work of various photographers, including Bob Wolfenson, Claudia Andujar, Mario Cravo Neto, Maureen Bisilliat, Otto Stupakoff, Sebastian Salgado and Walter Firmo are shown at the first exhibition of the Pirelli/São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) Photography Collection. After the exhibition, the images are incorporated in the Pirelli Collection, which forms part of MASP’s collection.
1992
Starts teaching photography at FotoRiografia, a school run by Ivan Lima in Rio de Janeiro. In honor of the centenary of the writer Graciliano Ramos, holds an exhibition at the Casa de Rui Barbosa in Rio de Janeiro, with photographs that follow the writer’s journey in Maceió, Palmeira dos Índios and Quebrângulo. The June Festival in Zurich includes an exhibition of several Brazilian photographers, including Firmo and Rogério Reis. Participates in the Fotofest Festival in Houston, USA. Joins photographers Ana Jobim, Luiz Garrido and Peter Feibert at the Econews Brasil agency.
1993
Travels from Parintins to the island of Marajó from June to December, to portray the people and nature of the Amazon region. The resulting works are shown in the exhibition Ribeiros amazônicos (Amazonian Riversides) in Belém, and then in Rio de Janeiro. Creates the project Photo in Cena, resulting from the meeting of photographers during a course taught by Firmo. Over the years, the project hosts events, and sets up a school and photographic agency. The book Cadeia (Prison), written by Clara Ramos about her mother, the writer Graciliano Ramos, and illustrated with photographs by Walter Firmo, is published.
1994
Participates in the exhibition Ruas do Rio – Caminhos da história (The Streets of Rio – A Journey through History) at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center. Teaches in the journalism course at Faculdade Cândido Mendes and also at the Escola Foto in Cena, now the Ateliê da Imagem. Opens the solo exhibitions Achados e perdidos (Lost and Found) at the Cândido Mendes Gallery and Paixão e morte segundo Walter Firmo (Love and Death According to Walter Firmo) at the Centro Cultural da Light, both in Rio de Janeiro. Curates the 1st FINEP Photojournalism Salon.
Rejoining FUNART, he returns to working in the Photography Department, retiring in 2007. Participates in the collective exhibition O negro brasileiro (Black Brazilians) at the University of Miami, Florida.
1995
His photographs are included in the exhibition Fotografia contemporânea brasileira (Contemporary Brazilian Photography) of works in the Joaquim Paiva collection, at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro. One of the first group of artists to leave their handprints on the Wall of Fame at the Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro, together with Anselmo Duarte, Paulinho da Viola, Emilinha Borba and Jô Soares.
1996
The book Nas trilhas do Rosa (On The Tracks of Rosa) is published by Editora Scritta, with photos by Firmo and text by the journalist Fernando Granato. They retraced the steps of writer Guimaraes Rosa as he hiked through the back country of Minas Gerais, using the writer’s notebook as a guide.
1997
The movie O Brasil de Walter Firmo (Walter Firmo’s Brazil), directed by Ana Lopes, is shown at the Cinemateca of the Museum of Modern Art during the Festival Nacional/Brasilidade. The solo exhibition O Brasil de Walter Firmo is shown at the Arte Hoje Gallery in Rio de Janeiro, followed by another solo exhibition Pixinguinha e outros batutas (Pixinguinha and Other Beats) at the Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo.
1999
Spends six months in Paris during his Banco Icatu Arts Fellowship. He studies French for the first two months and then spends the next four months taking photographs of the city. The results are shown the following year in an exhibition Paris, parada sobre imagens (Paris, Stop for Images) at the Debret Gallery in Paris.
2000
Curates the Contemporary Photography section of the exhibition Negro de corpo e alma (Black, Body and Soul) for the Redescobrimento Brasil + 500 anos (The Rediscovery of Brazil + 500 Years) exhibition in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo. In October, the exhibition Inéditos de Walter Firmo (Walter Firmo’s Unseen Works) opens at the Camara Clara Gallery in Rio de Janeiro.
2001
Delivers the opening lecture for the photography workshop at the Casa das Artes da Mangueira. Participates in the collective exhibition Negras memórias, memórias de negros – O imaginário luso-afro-brasileiro e a herança da escravidão (Dark Memories, Memories of Blacks – the Luso-Afro-Brazilian Imaginary and the Inheritance of Slavery) at the National History Museum, organized by Emanoel Araujo and shown the following year at the SESI Art Gallery in São Paulo. The book for the exhibition Paris: parada sobre imagens is published by FUNARTE, with photographs by Firmo. The exhibition is then shown in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and the following year in Brasilia, Belém and Vitória.
2002
Release of the short film Pequena África (Small Africa), conceived and directed by Zózimo Bulbul, with Firmo as the Director of Photography. Between 2002 and 2007, frequents and photographs religious cults of African origin.
2003
Solo exhibition Um passeio pela nobreza (A Walk Through Nobility) of informal photos of Brazilian MPB musicians such as Cartola, Chico Buarque, Clementina de Jesus, Paulinho da Viola and Pixinguinha opens in the Pequena Gallery 18 in Rio de Janeiro. Firmo and photographer Haruo Ohara are honored at the Pirelli/Masp Collection exhibition at the Casa França-Brasil.
2004
Receives the Commendation of the Order of Rio Branco from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Commendation of the Order of Cultural Merit from the Ministry of Culture. Gives photography workshops in France and Cuba, where he produces the photographic essay Românticos de Cuba (Cuban Romantics). Is one of the photographers included in the exhibition Dez artistas nota dez (Ten Artists Ten Out of Ten) at the José Boniface Center in Gamboa, Rio de Janeiro,
2005
The book Firmo fotografia (Firmo Photography), edited by Lélia Coelho Frota, is published by Bem-Te-Vi. The exhibition Impressões digitais (Digital Prints [literally, “Fingerprints”]) opens in the SENAC Center for Culture and Communication Gallery in Rio de Janeiro, showing digital photographs taken by Farmo during a trip to southern Brazil. Receives the Orilaxé 2005 Commendation from the Afro Reggae Cultural Group, in honor of his work dedicated to Brazilian black culture.
2006
Is interviewed for the series Depoimentos para a posteridade (Testimonials for Posterity), produced by the Museum of Image and Sound of Rio de Janeiro. Takes part in the exhibition Black is Beautiful at the Amsterdam International Photography Biennale.
2007
Curates and exhibits in the exhibition No ventre azul e branco – Tempo de Iemanjá (In the Blue and White Belly – The Time of Iemanjá) at the Federal Courts Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro. Exhibits hitherto unseen works at the LGC Contemporary Art Gallery in Rio de Janeiro, in celebration of his 50 years as a photographer. The book Álbum de retratos: Walter Firmo (Portrait Album: Walter Firmo), edited by Cora Rónai, is published by Editora Mauad.
2008
The book Brasil: imagens da terra e do povo (Brazil: Images of the Land and its People), edited by Emanoel Araujo, is published by the Imprensa Oficial de São Paulo. Curates the book África em nós (Africa in Us), published by Editora Assaoc. The exhibition Corpo e alma (Body and Soul) opens at the Imã Gallery in São Paulo.
2010
Participates in the Back 2 Black Festival at Estação Leopoldina in Rio de Janeiro.
2012
Appointed Tourism Ambassador for Rio de Janeiro.
2013
The book Walter Firmo – Um olhar sobre Bispo do Rosário (Walter Firmo – A View of Bispo do Rosário), edited by Flávia Corpas, is published by Nau Editora.
2018
The exhibition O Brasil que merece o Brasil (The Brazil that Brazil Deserves) opens at the Vale Cultural Center, in São Luís, Maranhão. In May, Walter Firmo’s photographic archive of about 140,000 images is housed at the Instituto Moreira Salles on permanent loan.
2019
Work starts on organizing the collection at the Instituto Moreira Salles and Firmo records his first testimonies about his life and work, in videos produced by photographer Egberto Nogueira.
2020-2021
Self-isolating during the pandemic, he continues to work remotely and intensively on organizing his collection. In parallel, he shares photographs taken on his mobile phone in the social media.
2022
Exhibition and catalog Walter Firmo – No verbo do silêncio a síntese do grito (Walter Firmo – From the Silent Word to the Expression of the Cry) opens at the IMS Paulista and CCBB Rio de Janeiro, in commemoration of his 70 years of uninterrupted photography.
2023
Opening of the exhibition Walter Firmo – No verbo do silêncio a síntese do grito (Walter Firmo – From the Silent Word to the Expression of the Cry) at the CCBB in Brasília and Belo Horizonte; and at MAM in Salvador.