Toros: the eroticism of bullfighting in the photographs of Alair Gomes

On the extensive Alair Gomes’s (1921-1992) collection, maintained by the National Library in Rio de Janeiro there is a group of photographs taken during his travels throughout Europe. The Toros series contains 80 photos that recorded bullfighting. It is a subject less known of Gomes’s work, since th...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Gomes, Aline Ferreira
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Repositorio:Revista Visuais
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:inpec.econtents.bc.unicamp.br:article/12417
Acceso en línea:https://econtents.bc.unicamp.br/inpec/index.php/visuais/article/view/12417
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Alair Gomes
Touradas
Fotografia
Corpo masculino
Toreo
Fotografía
Cuerpo masculino
Bullfighting
Photography
Male body
Descripción
Sumario:On the extensive Alair Gomes’s (1921-1992) collection, maintained by the National Library in Rio de Janeiro there is a group of photographs taken during his travels throughout Europe. The Toros series contains 80 photos that recorded bullfighting. It is a subject less known of Gomes’s work, since the public is more used to the photographs of Rio’s beaches. In Toros, the photographer seeks to capture the confrontation between man and animal, the imminent danger of death. Those photos mark the bullfighter’s body strain, the flexible shapes and curves they apply to escape bull attacks. The photographs also highlight the theatricality of the event and, moreover, demonstrate Gomes’s explicit interest in masculine forms. Comparing the existing iconography on the theme: works by Goya, Picasso and Dali, among others, this text will present these moments captured by Gomes, where it is clear that bullfighting, a manifestation full of aesthetic elements, served as a propitious ground for Alair Gomes to dedicate his fascination with the male body.