Macau. 100 Years of Photography in The Fundação Oriente

Macau. 100 Years of Photography is a documentary photo exhibition curating by the journalist and editor Rogério Beltrão Coelho in The Fundação Oriente Lisbon. It's exhibiting from 9 November 2017 to 7 January 2018. 

The precious and photographic works showing in Macau. 100 Years of Photography included amateur and professional photographers from Europe like Jules Itier's daguerreotype, which is the earliest photograph and oldest known images in Macau in 1844. Within the photographs and videos, maps and historical archives, the exhibition presenting the region's buildings, landscapes, main local and national events, daily life of Macauese and Portuguese communities.

Jules Itier - Etching(aqua-fortis) based in a daguerreotype.

Carlos Cabral - The Border Gate 1898.

In Carlos Cabral's The Border Gate (1898), a Portuguese arch embracing by trees and buildings which is no idea what it's behind, some blurry nature landscape, unknown and empty. The border gate between Mainland China and the colony in the north of Macau, it is the only land way to the China territory, people passing by the arch to come and go everyday in late 18th century until the mid 19th century. 

Unknown photographer - St. Paul's Ruins, 1890. 

St. Paul's Ruins is the most known landmark in Macau, it was the largest Catholic church and destroyed by a fire in 1835, only the front side of the church, this ruin, stand there since centuries ago, a miracle. In this photographic print, we can't see any people (except the photographer himself in a way) appears and it looks extremely fancy, handsome and surreal under the perfect composition. 

Jose Neves - Hairdresser 1930

Unknown photographer - Cheoc Van Beach, Coloane 1936. 

As Jose Neves's hairdresser (1930) and Cheoc Van Beach (1936) in Coloane Island in Macau, it's documenting Macauese's local customs and conditions, when people still cutting hair in the public, in some narrow humid lanes, or people still swimming and enjoying the summer in the sea, which we only can see these scenes in photographs but not in real anymore if we visit this small town, or used to a fisherman's village, or the city where filling by shiny hotels and huge plastic casinos.

The important value of the photo works presenting in Macau. 100 Years of Photography, it's not about the concept in those old black and white images, the dramatic photographic composition as Magnum photographers, the arty framed its hanging on the museum wall, or the fancy paper print its using, but the currents stayed in these photographs, the time it will never come back again.