Three old photographs of old Rio de Janeiro by Marc Ferrez

Botafogo beach, the Church of Nossa Senhora da Candelária and the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden are immortalized by the lens of photographer Marc Ferrez

• Set of three photographs by Marc Ferrez: Sugarloaf Mountain seen from Corcovado, the city center seen from the current Ilha Fiscal and the Botanical Garden.
• ~ 23 cm x 16 cm.
• Good general condition.

Even those who have never been to Rio de Janeiro know and dream of that view of Sugarloaf Mountain that can only be seen from the top of Corcovado. This Rio postcard, in addition to being an iconic landscape, is a symbol of the entire country. For this reason, there is no shortage of photos, videos and portraits of one of the most beautiful scenes in the world. But have you ever imagined what this famous place was like in the 1880s? Well, at that time, when cameras were rare (and expensive), it was necessary to have great preparation and a lot of prestige to photograph the Marvelous City. However, a Franco-Brazilian, Marc Ferrez (1843 - 1923), had this honor, and became one of the most important photographers in Brazilian history.

Marc was born in Rio in 1843, however, he became an orphan as a child and moved to France, where his family lived, only returning to Brazil as a teenager. Still, it was in the land of thrushes that he built his career as a photographer. Initially, the young man was an apprentice in a stationery and printing shop, where he learned about photographic techniques, but at the age of 21 he opened his own studio, and, from then on, he became one of the court's main photographers, taking part in numerous expeditions.

Marc Ferrez was never a portraitist and specialized in just one genre, landscapes, when his competitors (Klumb, Stah, Leuzingerl) preferred the more profitable portraits. In addition to the famous view of Sugarloaf Mountain, he recorded here other memorable points of Rio de Janeiro, such as the Botanical Garden and the Church of Nossa Senhora da Candelária, in the city center, with Corcovado in the background at a time when the Statue Christ the Redeemer didn't even exist yet. Photographs of old Rio de Janeiro, especially by Marc Ferrez, are increasingly sought after.