This is a two-part series...
As I’ve mentioned before I don’t like to do much research before going to a new place. However, I knew Art Kane had been to Bahia and I called him and asked,“What’s it like?” His response, “Don’t worry about a thing. They’ll be sitting in windows waiting for you.”
He was bang on. They were. I could have shot only that and I would have been a happy camper.
I’d been to Brazil before, Rio and Sao Paulo mostly. I’d loved it and had a good time photographing the city, the architecture, etc, etc.
Bahia was a different story. The people are the big ticket item here. Their interaction, their physicality. They held my interest with their charm and their friendliness, from kids to senior citizens.
The project was started by Jim Metzner who recorded great sound and music. I came along to do the photographing.
Brazil, like Haiti and Panama, is a place where music is a constant at all times.
Our product was a LP record album of sounds and music, plus my pictures– it was called Sound Image: Bahia.
I still hear the sounds and the music when I look at the images.
