About 

This site is about José Albano, an award winning brazilian photographer living in an intentional community in the outskirts of Fortaleza, a city in the state of Ceará, in the northeastern coast of Brazil. (Honorable mention, Nikon Photo Contest International, 1992/1993; Asia/Pacific Cultural Center for UNESCO prize, ACCU World Photo Contest "Living Together", 1995; First Prize, National Photo Contest on Racism and Discrimination by the Marc Chagall Jewish Cultural Institute, 1993)

Biography

Born March 13, 1944 in Fortaleza, Brazil, taught English and Portuguese before discovering photography in 1966. Obtained his M.A. in Communications Photography in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, New York, 1972, under a Fulbright Grant. Has been a free lance photographer ever since, working on portraiture, advertising, press, editorial, landscape, industrial and architectural photography.

Sabiaguaba Community

The intentional community of Sabiaguaba was started in 1990. It includes four houses built in the corners of the 5000 square meters of land. There are no walls, no gates. The land between the houses is filled by a reforestation project that started in 1975 and the only area not shaded by trees is the boys soccer field. The permanent residents are artists involved with photography, video, performing and music. There is no religious or philosophic identity and the community motto is "carpe diem". The community is famous for its granola and bread baking besides its social role in the neighborhood sponsoring the Albanitos project.

Albanitos Project

"Albanitos" is the name of a group of boys from the low income, semi-rural neighborhood surrounding José Albano's studio-house. Some 60 boys have belonged to this group over the last 12 years. Their main activity is soccer playing but they also gather in the club-house to do school work, cook, play music, play games, watch television and videos, create toys and use tools from the hammer to the computer. Older boys help younger ones in their projects. Through the years, hundreds of photographs have been taken by José Albano showing their activities and their growth has been recorded in portraits that have been found to boost their self-esteem and sense of identity. Members of the intentional community also help provide academic, health and emotional support for the boys.

Press

The press page features, in this order: 1) An article from a Veja magazine special issue dedicated to Fortaleza. It describes the Sabiaguaba community and the Albanitos project. 2) An article from O Povo newspaper from Fortaleza describing José Albano's day in the city with his camera. 3)A page of an article from Terra magazine describing the photography project "A day in the life of Brazil", showing one of Albano's pictures. 4) An article in Arquitetura e Urbanismo magazine describing Albano's mud and wattle studio-house.

Links 

The links page features, in this order, links to: 1) An academic thesis on photography and identity based on José Albano's twelve years experience of photographing the Albanitos; 2) A page of the Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts in Brazil developed by the Cultural Institute of Itaú Bank, about José Albano's life and work, illustrated with ten black and white photographs; 3) Film maker Tibico Brasil's page describing "Não deu tempo", a documentary about José Albano's life and work; 4) An essay on intentional rural community living published by "Caros Amigos", Brazil's premier progressive magazine; 5) A site designed and maintained by the Albanitos themselves; 6) A page in french by Quebec visitor Denis Rail about the Sabiaguaba Community.

Boys´ Life Exibition

30 pictures both in color and black and white showing portraits and various activities in the life of the boys known as Albanitos who live in José Albano's neighborhood. The photos were edited from a collection ranging from 1990 to 2002 and it is possible to see pictures of the boys as they grow. The pictures also show aspects of the region with its Atlantic ocean front, the sand dunes, mangroves and rivers as well as aspects of the community where the action takes place.

© José Albano

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