'Sir Benjamin Stone: Observations in Brazil, 1893' at Sala Brasil, Embassy of Brazil

Sir Benjamin Stone, Sir Benjamin Stone, Solar Eclipse Station, Paracuru, Brazil, 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

Sir Benjamin Stone, Forest Dwelling, Brazil, women lace making (note I rested in my hammock here some hours in travelling from Ceará to Parracuru JBS) , Brazil, 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

Sir Benjamin Stone, Visitors to the Eclipse Station, The Day of the Eclipse, Parra Curu, Brazil, 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

Sir Benjamin Stone, Portuguese emigrant children, S.S. Trent, for Brazil, 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

Sir Benjamin Stone, On board the River Amazon steam boat Brazil, Brazil 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

Sir Benjamin Stone, In the Market, Ceará, Brazil, 1893. All Photographs from The Sir Benjamin Stone Collection, Library of Birmingham.

The exhibition presents previously unpublished works by Sir Benjamin Stone of his journey to Brazil in 1893. Curated by Pete James and Rodrigo Orrantia and presented in partnership with the Brazilian Embassy with support from Jaguar Land Rover and Commercial Doctor, the exhibition tells the story of the famous amateur photographer’s journey to Brazil as part of a Royal Astronomical Society scientific mission to view and record a full solar eclipse.

Curated by Pete James and Rodrigo Orrantia and presented in partnership with the Brazilian Embassy with generous support from Jaguar Land Rover and Commercial Doctor, the exhibition tells the story of the famous amateur photographer’s journey to Brazil as part of a Royal Astronomical Society scientific mission to view and record a full solar eclipse. In addition to recording the natural phenomenon, Stone also made a large series of photographs documenting his journey by sea to Brazil and the people, places and sites which greeted him throughout the expedition.

A keen observer of people and customs in England, Stone’s images convey the different stories of Brazil on the eve of industrialisation. A land of extreme contrasts, the exhibition reveals recently freed African slaves, indigenous tribes of the Amazon, European settlers, the wealthy and dispossessed, and those venturing to this land in search of a promising future. In many of these images his subject’s quizzical gaze make it evident that Stone was as much the observed as the observer.

This exhibition is an invitation to travel back in time and witness a nation in the eve of modernisation, a unique contrast between the untouched wilderness of the Amazon, and the relentless pace of industrialization, flourishing in cities like Manaus, capital of the rubber trade at the start of the Twentieth Century.

Reproduction prints, bespoke frames and exhibition vinyls for the exhibition produced by Genesis Imaging.

Sir Benjamin Stone: Observations in Brazil 1893

Sala Brasil
Embassy of Brazil
14-16 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5BL

September 12 – November 7 2014

Find out more here