Sandra Cattaneo Adorno: Águas de Ouro

In her latest monograph, SANDRA CATTANEO ADORNO explores the unique character of Rio de Janeiro through images that combine moments of street photography with abstract, lyrical compositions. Adorno’s photographs emphasize the human body which, isolated and transformed by the strong golden light, contrasts against the natural beauty of Rio’s beaches and acquires a symbolic dimension. As a result, Adorno’s beguiling images not only capture people and moments with visual maturity and acuity, but also evoke something quintessential about the city, something a little darker: the bittersweet yearning that Brazilians call saudade, which hints at other levels of reality, the invisible ones of poetry and magic.

Sandra Cattaneo Adorno (b. 1953, Rio de Janeiro) took up photography in 2013 at the age of 60 and has since gained extensive recognition for her work. Like Dora Maar, who reinvented her photography practice in her 70s, Cattaneo Adorno is drawn to experimentation and to innovative ways of printing and presenting her work. The author of The Other Half of the Sky, Águas de Ouro, Scarti di Tempo, and 10 Years (Radius Books 2020, 2022, 2024). Cattaneo Adorno is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2003 American Photography Award, 2021 Lens Culture Street Photography Juror’s Pick, and the 2019 Portrait of Humanity Award in collaboration with Magnum Photos.

In 2022, Cattaneo Adorno launched her solo exhibition during the 59th Venice Biennale, organized by the European Cultural Centre. She has also exhibited in Women Street Photographers exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur and New York; Galleria del Cembalo, Rome; Lens Culture, New York; Photoville, Brooklyn; Sony Awards Exhibition, London. Her work has been published by The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic, and The Guardian, as well as Women Street Photographers (Prestel 2021) and Portrait of Humanity (Hoxton Mini Press, 2019).