José Roberto Bassul, a Brazilian photographer and architect born in Rio de Janeiro in 1957, has dedicated his artistic vision to capturing the intersection of urban life and contemporary society through his camera lens. After growing up in Brasilia and earning both his degree and master's in architecture and urbanism, Bassul returned to his early passion for photography, which he first studied as a teenager.
Following an extensive and diverse career as an architect, Bassul made the decision to focus exclusively on photography as his primary artistic medium. He describes his visual works as "an attempt to draw thoughts, project desires, and build spaces for imagination." His artistic research concentrates on urban landscapes and contemporary aspects of city life, operating at the intersection of social, historical, political, conceptual, formal, and imaginative dimensions.
Bassul's work manifests through both geometric visual constructions and experimental approaches, exploring the complex relationship between built environments and human experience. His photography portfolio includes three distinct series that showcase different aspects of urban existence and architectural form.
"O Sol Só Vem Depois" (The Sun Only Comes Later) presents a haunting exploration of loss and resilience in urban settings. These images capture situations where individuals and communities face loss, defeat, frustration, disenchantment, and fear. The series features abandoned squares and parks, deserted sports fields, empty streets, demolished houses, and dark pathways, all imbued with a certain lyricism through rays of light. The photographs suggest that even in darkness, hope persists, as if the nights themselves know that the sun will eventually come.
"Paisagem Concretista" (Concrete Landscape) takes a different approach by moving away from typical representations of Brasilia's famous monuments. Instead, this series explores the aesthetic connections between Lúcio Costa's urban planning and the concrete art movement in visual arts. Although these two artistic movements developed along parallel paths, Bassul's photography reveals how they engage in dialogue through the aesthetic language that observant viewers can perceive while carefully traversing the city's open spaces.
The third series, "Linhas de Sombra" (Shadow Lines), focuses on common buildings found in various cities, creating minimalist compositions formed entirely by lines and surfaces arranged on a single plane. These photographs deliberately distance themselves from traditional architectural representation, moving away from depicting buildings as mere structural objects. Instead, the visual recordings resemble drawings or engravings, creating doubt and encouraging viewers to question the very nature of photographic language itself.
Bassul's comprehensive body of work demonstrates how photography can serve as both documentation and artistic interpretation of urban environments. His unique perspective, informed by his architectural background, offers viewers a fresh way to understand and appreciate the built environments that shape contemporary life. More information about his work can be found at www.joserobertobassul.com.
