Marc Ferrez: a visualizing photographer of the 19th century

Abstract

This text proposes a dialogue between Marc Ferrez's (1843-1923) photographic production and Mirzoeff's (2016) conceptual proposal on visuality, counter-visuality and the right to look, starting from the hypothesis that the photographer brings a visual representation that legitimizes the colonial legacy present in Brazilian society. Thus a brief chronology of the photographer’s work in 19th century and Mirzoeffs’s concepts are presented in order to cross it with six images, two from each category (Black people, Indigenous Brazilian people and Landscape). We concluded that Ferrez could be considered a “viewer” of the 19th century, acting as a colonizer through his images. In them, the three regimes of visuality, plantation, imperial and incoherent visualization are perceptible, generating classification, separation and aestheticization. However, they must be permanently open to a counter-visual look, that is, one that questions what has been posted.