The image of the dictatorship in perspective: the photographs from Fernando Lemos between 1949 and 1954

Resumo

From the photographic productions from Fernando Lemos between 1949 and 1952 in Portugal and between 1953 and 1954 in Brazil, this article aims to reflect on the imagery carried out by the artist when he left Portugal in face of the one produced in Brazil in the years immediately posthumous to his arrival. Fernando Lemos left for Brazil in 1953, exhibiting his work at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo and, in 1954, at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro – where he showcased part of the extensive photographic production he produced in Portugal. The imagery language of these photographs – the construction of space, luminosity, overlays, etc. – demonstrates a harmony with surrealism and the artistic use of photography. But in them are also imprinted the different rhythms of life and quotidian. The fact that the artist focuses his production on the portrait, makes it the best referent to allows us to understand the impact that the migration caused in his life and in his artistic work.