Digital Photo Array [1]

By Armando Rozário

This is the first of a series of articles which will be posted weekly by the Brazilian website www.jornalorebate.com in Macaé, RJ - Brazil. The title chosen by meis directly related to digital 'still' photography, which arepractised dailybytens of millions of photographers with their cameras, camcorders &/or Phone Cameras.

At least one or more images will illustrate each 'picture story', the first of this series is related to a photo which was taken in 1956 in Las Vegas....50 years ago! The subject is world famous, the American trumpet player Louis Armstrong. Besides giving my personal account of how this photo was taken, you may also read the text in Portuguese which was published in a Brazilian weekly magazine in November, 1956.

The text in Portuguese is quite accurate, but two important details were omitted. Journalist Darwin Brandão mentioned in the text that the initial meeting was quiteexciting.Someone pointed at a man who was nearby andinquired, "Isn't that Armstrong?" I looked at him and told my colleague that indeed,it was him. Brandão who loved Armstrong and his music, ran forward, embraced him and kissed his forehead!

When I explained to Armstrong why he was given such a warm Brazilian embrace (and kiss), he laughed a lot and invited us tothe house where he was staying in the suburbs of Las Vegas. Fifty years ago racial problems in America was commonplace, so Armstrong wasn't staying at the Sand's where he was playing every night.

Brandão also forgot to mention that Armstrong invitedus as special guests to his show the same night, we had a stageside table reserved for us. When he appeared onstage, he pointed at out table and told the audience that he was dedicating his performance to those who were sittingnear the stage (our table), who came all the way from Rio to see him.

He played his trumpet nonstop for nearly two hours, accompanied by the fabulous singer Velma Middleton and the musicians Edmond Hall (clarinet), Trummy Young (trombone), amongst a group of seven of his band. I took dozens of photos with my Leica M3. The audience applauded the performance noisily and wehad the privilege of witnessing the showone of the greatest musicians of jazz in the whole world.

The picture story was published in five pages, five photos illustrated the text. It was published in the November 10, 1956 issue of Manchete. The cover of this special issue featured fashion model Adalgisa Colombo who was later elected Miss Brasil. She was wearing a bikini.....50 years ago!

I travelled to Brasília in November, 1956 in President Juscelino Kubitcheck's official DC-4 plane, during the trip, president Juscelino called me asideand asked me how I felt whenI photographed beautiful Brazilian models in bikinis!. The photos were spread out in seven pages, besides the cover. The title stamped on the cover was quite suggestive: "The best of Summer are the young girls". ( old fashioned bikini modeled by Adalgisa Colombo).

I was the first magazine photographer to set foot in Brasíla nearly 50 years ago. Now let me tell you how the two digital photos which illustrate this story were taken. My Nokia 6265 Phone-Camera was set at 1280x960, two digital images of approximately 540kb were recorded. I will now give further details of the digital image, and how the two photos were taken:

PHOTO: A053.jpg - 544.0kb >> Iclicked at the 1280x960 setting, and at the self-timer. I placed the tiny phone-camera on top of a pile of books on the table. I then framed the subject, viewing the LCD monitor which was aimed at the wall of the diningroom, decorated by three photos on the wall. The scene was lit by two small dacroid reflectors. I pressed the shutter, which activated the sel-timer,rushed and picked up the old magazine and set myself in front of the camera, showing the photos which I had taken in Las Vegas in 1956. In the background you may see a small mural, 1m. x 1.5m of a fisherman leaving his smallshack near the estuary of Rio São João, this photo was taken in 1978. Behind me you can also see aposter which were posted on a streetin Lisbon in April, 1975. In one digital photo four different periods were registered, 1956, 1975, 1978 and the one which was taken on the 16th. of October, 2006

PHOTO: A051.jpg - 544.0kb >> This image was taken a few minutes after the first one. I was holding a framed laser print in the A3 format, focalizing Louis Armstrong and his wife "Brown Sugar". I took this informal portrait of Louis Armstrong and his wife with a Leica M3 camera, with Kodak Tri-X film. I used a wide-angle lens.This is a pioneer image of a famous musician sitting on a rocking chair playing his instrument. Years later other Brazilian photographers 'copied' this setting. American photographer Bert Stern also produced an imagesimilar tomine, but I don't know if it was taken beforeit or afterwards. In this photo, you may notice four framed photographic prints, one photo was taken in the United States, two in Lisbon and one in Brazil. Immediately after these images were 'clicked', I could see the clear results in the LCD monitor of my phone-camera (diagonal 5.5cm)

I do hope that my new weekly "Digital Photo Array" series will encourage amateur photographers in Brazil and others,all over the world .....to register 'people, places & things'. There was a column in an American newspaper, named with this title, I think it was the International Herald Tribune which I bought regularly in Paris, in 1960.

I will nowpresent an avant premiere of a photo which will be published in the second edition:

Aurora' - 1873 - View of thefaçade"blocked/covered" by a wall, authorized by the Municipal authorities in the 1980s.

Nova Aurora de 1873, c/ fachada parcialmente encoberta. Obras dos anos 1980, com autorização da prefeitura.

"Digital Photo Array"
PHOTOS: Armando Rozário
Macaé, 16 de outubro de 2006
Armando - Cabo Frio - 17 de outubro de 2006

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