Paulo Pires

Franca, Brazil, 1928 – São Carlos, Brazil, 2015

Paulo Pires, was born in 1928 in Franca, an inland city in the state of São Paulo. At the age of ten, his father gave him his first camera and since then he has been experimenting with various techniques, but always as a self-taught artist.

In 1947 he graduated as a mechanical technician and shortly afterwards he started teaching technical drawing. His passion was to invent and create optical devices and lab equipment. In 1950, for the first time, he exhibited in the IX Salão Internacional de Arte Fotográfica sponsored by the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante, his first photo club. In 1959 he joined a group of amateur photographers in São Carlos to found the Iris Foto Grupo, which is still active. Since 1967 he holds the title of Artiste Fiap (AFIAP) awarded by the Fédération Internationale de L’Art Photographique, based in Bern, in recognition of his works and his mastery of photographic technique. He participated in several photography exhibitions throughout Brazil and around the world in the 1950s until the 1980s. In 2004 a collection of his work was published: Paulo Pires: Fotografia.

His photographs have been included in the Itaú Cultural, Tate Modern of London, Masp – Museu de Arte de São Paulo, and MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art.

selected works

Vintage photographs and limited editions. Complete catalog and prices available on request via e-mail: contato@isabelamado.com.br