Ouro Preto is a strange place. It was once the wealthy hub of the mining areas around and gained huge wealth from the gold and other minerals.
Much of this was spent constructing a town in the image of Portugal, an illusion helped by the steep valley slopes and roads. Although much of the tile-work found in Portugal is absent, the styles area clearly imported from Europe and adapted to the local resources.
This architecture has resulted in Ouro Preto being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, cementing the town’s current renaissance and future destination as a tourist haven.
But of course, there is another layer behind the facade of tourist shops selling polished gemstones and, as is common in Brazil, as you move away from the centre you encounter very different architecture and less privileged constructions.
The result is that the heritage areas feel very forced and artificial – a virtual currency mine, harvesting gold from the tourists in return for sanitised glimpses of past colonial glory. As with the mining museums in Belo Horizonte, there is a unsettling lack of historical context to offset the saccharine scenes of well groomed Brazilians taking selfies of themselves in front of the churches.
Below is a small gallery of architectural images from the town – I will follow up with the corresponding people photographs shortly.
Apologies for the
A short collection of images illustrating the open-cast mining, just north of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This is historically the primary source of wealth and power in the region, and even today the mines feel more like city states than industry - characterised by their high security and ever…
In "Photography"
Porto is a strange place to visit, with several different characters all mixed in to the same space around the Ribera. In the centre, there are many buildings that appear abandoned, and which have probably been abandoned for quite a long time. This is not just the ongoing effect of…
In "Travel"
Some images from the central market in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, where stalls sell various forms of Cachaça (a spirit distilled from sugar cane), fruit and vegetables, and also some handicrafts and rocks and minerals for the tourists.
In "Photography"
This entry was posted on January 19, 2015 by Mark. It was filed under Photography, Travel and was tagged with Brazil, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Ouro Preto, Ricoh GR.
More.. http://transienteye.com/2015/01/19/ouro-preto/
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