ANA BERNSTEIN  PHOTOGRAPHY

I inadvertently found, among the photos and negatives that I took with me when I moved to New York, a roll of negatives with images of Brasília in 1960 that belonged to my parents. These photos, taken right after the inauguration of the new Federal District, show the Brazilian capital while still undergoing construction. I was fascinated by the monumental architectural projects emerging amidst a rural - and often inhospitable - landscape. Digitally reworked, the images simultaneously evoke and question a utopian moment in the country’s history, informed by the developmentalist ideal which was one of the cornerstones of Juscelino Kubitscheck’s presidency.