Images can generate sounds, albeit imaginary ones. Based on this, Brazilian photographer and journalist Sérgio Poroger journeyed through the southeastern United States in December 2014, putting together a collection of photographs now available in his book, Cold Hot, sponsored by the Lafayette Convention and Visitor Center and other supporters. This coming March 2, from 6-8 p.m., at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, Mr. Poroger will discuss his work and explain the trip he took to gather images and ideas for this work of art. The book tells the story of the region, and the 66 images give visual understanding.
The U.S. launch begins with two events in New Orleans on Tuesday and continues with three events in Lafayette, La. over two days, Feb. 22 and 23. The tour travels to Jackson, Ms. on Friday, Feb. 24, followed by Clarksdale, Ms. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Mr. Poroger travels to Tennessee for the second week of touring to have launches in Memphis on Feb. 27 and 28, Nashville on March 1 and Chattanooga on Thursday, March 2. The tour finishes in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4.
“I researched the region for almost two years simply because of my desire to photograph the region’s musicality," said mr. Poroger. "However, I was surprised to find a region that stands apart from the rest of the United States, where music has such a major influence on the landscapes, architecture and customs of local residents, who are also different – they love to talk, they love to have conversations and they are happy and laid back. Basically, this is a place where everything becomes music.”
In addition to the photographs, Mr. Poroger wrote an introduction to the book and brief comments that weave the images together.
Mr. Poroger travelled over 3,000 kilometers through the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, journeying along the legendary Blues Highway, Route 61, passing through landscapes that alternated between humble countryside lined with farmlands and opulent cities crowned with skyscrapers, but all with a common theme: the ever-present musicality. Few regions of the country offer such musical diversity, from old, sacred blues to country, branching through classic jazz and 50’s rock and roll.
The route reflects that diversity: in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame is a mandatory destination for pilgrims, as is Wild Bill’s, the wonderful show venue in the Memphis suburbs, which discovered, among others, a young man called Elvis Presley. Or the crossroads where routes 61 and 49 meet, in Clarksdale, Ms., where blues legend Robert Johnson supposedly made his famous pact with the devil, now a mandatory part of any music history. And of course the New Orleans Preservation Hall, legendary temple to traditional jazz.
All of this has been recorded in Cold Hot, which the book’s curator, Eder Chiodetto, who is one of the icons of Brazilian photographic curatorship, has compared to “the letters that recall the heroic excursions of itinerant photographers, who took us to unknown places, revealing ambiences, intimacies and cultures, drawing back the curtain to see behind the scenes.” And why this title? Mr. Chiodetto says, “Breaking away from chronology and geography, the images are connected through their composition, through the interplay of light and color, through the recurring references and tonalities that reveal extreme warmth or a certain coldness, metaphorically reflecting the region’s ambivalence, which oscillates between periods of intense heat and harsh cold.”
The book also includes a presentation by author and music critic Carlos Calado, who defines it as an imaginary soundtrack created by the expressive images. “To feel this music, you do not need to have personally visited the many cities in the Southern United States that he photographed during visits to bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, recording studios and museums. This silent music can even be seen in the images that Sergio’s lenses captured of the streets,” said Mr. Calado.
About Cold Hot
120 pages and 66 photographs
Photography and text – Sergio Poroger
Organization - Eder Chiodetto
Executive Producer - Patricia Bueloni
Graphic Design - Manuela Siffert Porto
Graphic Production and Image Treatment – Marcio Uva
Translation - Frank Turner
Printing: Ipsis (Brazil’s foremost photography and art book publisher)
US Tour contact: Katie Gray katie.gray@spmj.com.br 504-390-1309