José Araújo de Medeiros (1921–1990) was a prominent Brazilian photojournalist and photographer, widely regarded as one of the masters of modern photography in Brazil. Born in Teresina, Piauí, he began his photographic journey as an amateur in 1937 before moving to Rio de Janeiro in 1939. He joined the prestigious magazine 'O Cruzeiro' in 1946, where he spent decades documenting Brazilian life with a humanist approach influenced by European photojournalism. His work captured the diversity of Brazil, from elite bohemian scenes and famous personalities to marginalized communities, indigenous peoples, and secret rituals like Candomblé. Medeiros is noted for his ability to capture 'Brazilian light' and for his extensive documentation of the country's social reality during the mid-20th century.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
Candombléphotographer