Claudio Edinger

Claudio Edinger is a Brazilian photographer born in Rio de Janeiro in 1952. He lived in New York from 1976 to 1996.

Biography

Edinger studied economics at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, Brazil. At the same time, in the beginning of the Seventies, he began taking photographs. In 1975 he had his first individual exhibition, at the São Paulo Museum of Art, with photographs of the Martinelli Building, a vertical slum in downtown São Paulo. The following year he moved to New York City and lived there until 1996. thumb

Throughout the 20 years he spent in the United States, Edinger developed personal photographic essays. He also worked as a freelance photographer for Brazilian and North American newspapers and magazines such as Veja, Time, Newsweek, Life, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, among many others. In 1977 he studied with Philippe Halsman (1906–1979), the great master portraitist.

In 1978 after two years photographing the Hassidic Jews in Brooklyn, Edinger had an individual exhibit "Hassidic Jews” at the International Center of Photography in New York. From 1979 to 1994 Edinger taught classes at Parson's/New School for Social Research and at the International Center of Photography (1992–1994). thumb

During the time Claudio lived in New York City, he published three books: Chelsea Hotel –1983, Venice Beach –1985 both by Abbeville Press, (both received the Leica Medal of Excellence), and The Making of Ironweed, published by Viking Penguin, about the film directed by Hector Babenco, written by William Kennedy, with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. In 1986 Claudio started photographing for a book about India.

In 1989 and 1990 Claudio photographed the Juqueri Psychiatric Hospital, in São Paulo, where he lived for two weeks. Madness was published by DBA, DAP and by Dewi Lewis Publishing in 1997. Edinger received the Ernst Haas Award in 1990 for this work. thumb

From 1991 to 1996, Claudio photographed carnaval in Brazil's five different regions: Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife/Olinda, São Paulo, and Paraty. When he returned to Brazil in 1996, Edinger published Carnaval, by DBA, DAP and Dewi Lewis (England). In 1999 Carnaval won the Higashikawa Prize in Japan.

Between 1994 and 1996, Claudio photographed the old part of Havana, Cuba. Old Havana was published in 1997 by Dewi Lewis, Edition Stemmle, DBA and DAP. That same year the book was named by American Photo as one of the best books of the year. thumb

In 1999, the book Vitória, city of the islands, about the capital of the Espirito Santo State in Brazil, was published by Abooks. In 2000 Edinger published Cityscapes, with photographs of New York. In 2001, Portraits, a collection of photos done for his books and for magazines. Both books were published by DBA.

In 2006 the book Flesh and Spirit, an anthology of 30 years of his work, was published by Umbrage and DBA.

Claudio began working with a large format, 4x5 camera, in 2000, to photograph the city where he was born, Rio de Janeiro. Rio was published in 2003 by DBA. It was named one of the best books of the year by Photo District News.

His book: São Paulo: minha estranha cidade linda also done with a large format camera, came out in March 2009, published by DBA and has received the Porto Seguro Award in Brazil. thumb

Photographic career

Claudio Edinger was born in Rio de Janeiro in May 1952 and before his second birthday his family moved to São Paulo. He has said that in his mind he has often thought his soul was in São Paulo and his heart in Rio. This love of both places, he believes, shows in his photographs of both cities.

Edinger may well be the contemporary master of the photographic series. Taking his cue from Tolstoy's phrase, "without knowing who I am, life is impossible", Edinger, from the beginning of his career, has used his camera as a research tool trying to explore his chosen subject matter in great detail, often to its depths. It is research that is often highly charged emotionally both to Edinger and to the viewer of his photographs. thumb

Edinger's first series of photographs began in 1975 when he chose to explore the Martinelli Building in São Paulo, his home city. At one time the Martinelli was the tallest and most exclusive apartment building in São Paulo. When Edinger began his (photographic) essay on the Building, it had been reduced to a vertical slum. One can say that by exploring a subject in depth, Edinger had set the template of his aesthetic that the camera can be used to explore in depth which has resulted in over thirteen books dealing with specific subjects. In order to widen his knowledge of the world and to try to examine his own roots, Edinger left Brazil for New York, which was then the heart and center of the photographic world. Edinger chose to live among and photograph the Hassidic Jews of Brooklyn. In a series of startling black and white photographs taken over two years, Edinger was able to capture a broad portrait of the traditions and joys of the Hassidic community. After being introduced to Cornell Capa by Philippe Halsman in 1978, he was invited to exhibit his depiction of Brooklyn's Hassidic life at the International Center of Photography. thumb

After Edinger's stay in Brooklyn, he moved to the historic Chelsea Hotel, a Bohemian, for want of a better word, oasis where many notable people in the arts and eccentrics chose to live either in transit or permanently. Among the many residents, at one time or another, were many painters who had studios there as well as musicians such as Bob Dylan, Virgil Thompson, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin who spent time there. Edinger photographed in telling, but sympathetic portraits many of the famous, as well as the eccentric personalities who were never to become famous who inhabited the world of the Chelsea Hotel in the late 1970s. The series of portraits resulted in Edinger's first large scale book, "Chelsea Hotel" published by Abbeville Press in 1983. The book, his first solely of portraits, was a landmark achievement in exploring diverse group of eccentric people often having only one thing in common, their residence at the Chelsea Hotel. The book is a classic photographic record of the late 70's, early 80s.

From the Chelsea, in 1984, Edinger moved to Venice Beach, California. During the late 1960s and '70s, Venice Beach was a center of the counter-culture and a fertile field for Edinger's camera, photographing the many odd and the bizarre people who had come there to be near the sea and enjoy the beach culture. In a sense this was an extension of Edinger's work at the Chelsea Hotel, but here the people had not only pretensions to the arts, but were also concerned with their bodies and the beach. The series of photographs Edinger took at this time allowed the photographer to put his subjects in a wider landscape than the narrow confines of the Chelsea Hotel. In a sense the book, "Venice Beach", that resulted from this period is pivotal in Edinger's development as it prepared him for his next adventure when he went to India in 1986.

Edinger's transition to India became a period of great creative and spiritual experiment and growth. He began to use color in his photographs and the holy city of Varanasi played a vital role in awakening his dormant recognition of his own need for a deeper spirituality that had begun in Brooklyn. Using a newly acquired Hasselblad camera, he was able to photograph in medium format the excitement and whirl of people and places of India that in many ways captures the essence of India as both an accepted insider and a foreigner discovering the essence of the country's spiritual nature. This has resulted in the ongoing project of a series of photographs of Northern India.

Upon his return to Brazil Edinger had to cope with the reality of trying to understand the consequences of Alzheimer's disease on a most personal nature. His beloved grandmother had been affected by the disease and he was moved to bring attention to the treatment of madness and dementia in Brazil and possibly in other places in the world where the mentally ill are often warehoused in asylums and become even more truly mad, This led to his series of photographs inside the Juqueri, Latin America's largest insane asylum. In order to seek out and understand the depth of what occurs there Edinger moved inside the asylum to live among the people housed there. The result of his search was the receipt of the Ernst Haas Award from the Maine Photographic Workshop. When he showed these harrowing photographs to Cornell Capa, he was met with the question, "Who would want to see this?" After seven years of showing the work around to various publishers it was finally accepted and published by DBA (Brazil) and Dewi Lewis (UK) and it is now a seminal work of photography depicting the mentally ill. While seeking publication of Madness, Edinger began a project that was to occupy him for the next five years: the photographing of Brazil's Carnaval, the institutionalized madness of Brazil. From 1991 to 1995 he photographed five different regions of Brazil - Rio, Salvador, Recife/Olinda, São Paulo and Paraty during Carnaval. The book was published in 1996. This project established Edinger as a truly Brazilian photographer, now with an established international reputation, back on to his native soil after twenty years abroad in New York.

Other books followed. Old Havana, a portrait in color of the decay of a once exquisite colonial architecture kept barely alive by its vibrant inhabitants. This book was published simultaneously in English, Portuguese and German.

In 2000 Edinger's Cityscapes was published by DBA (Brazil). It is an autobiographical work of reflection and discovery about his time in New York as a photographer living in a foreign city. Using an outsider's view to see and experience one of the most photographed cities in the world Edinger was able to photograph the city in a fresh way.

This prepared him for his return to Brazil to confront through his photography, in the year 2000, the city of Rio where he was born. There, through his camera, this time using a large format Sinar 4 x 5 and black and white film, the ambiguity of spaces in large cities that he first found in New York is realized. What emerges is a very personal series of photos that excite the viewer as well as the photographer showing the connection to his subject matter in the most intimate and poetic way. Working with selective focus and a large format camera Edinger's work has evolved into a somewhat surreal study that one art critic has called the invention of neo-expressionism in photography. It is one of the most personal statements by a photographer now practicing his art.

The books that have subsequently come from his use of the large format camera and his experimental use of color, notably his most recent exploration of São Paulo have been a giant step in Edinger's work resulting in a widening acceptance of Edinger's photographs in exhibitions at art galleries, museums and private collections.

Books

Chelsea Hotel (second edition) - Vento Leste Ed / Abbeville Press 2024 Coisas Que Eu Vi - Vento Leste Ed. 2024 Machina Mundi 3 - Vento Leste Ed. 2023 Quarentena - Vento Leste Ed. 2022 From Good Jesus to Miracles - Editions Bessard - 2021 Machina Mundi - Sub Specie Aeterni - Vento Leste Ed. - 2020 História da Fotografia Autoral e a Pintura Moderna - Ipsis Ed. - 2019 Machina Mundi - Bazar do Tempo Ed. - 2017 O Paradoxo do Olhar - Estudio Madalena 2014 From Jesus to Miracles - BEI 2012 Um Swami no Rio - (novel) Annablume 2009 São Paulo - Minha Estranha Cidade Linda - DBA 2009 Flesh and Spirit - Umbrage 2006 Isso é que é - DBA 2006 Rio - DBA 2003 Cityscapes - DBA 2001 Vitoria - Abooks 2000 Portraits - DBA, ABooks 1999 São Paulo Under Construction – ABooks 1998 Madness - DBA, DAP, Dewi Lewis 1997 Old Havana - DBA, DAP, Dewi Lewis, Editions Stemmle 1997 Alt-Havana - Editions Stemmle (Zurique) 1997 Carnaval - DBA, Dewi Lewis, DAP 1996 The Making of Ironweed - Viking Penguin 1987 Venice Beach - Abbeville Press 1985 Chelsea Hotel - Abbeville Press 1983

Awards

Leica Medal of Excellence | 1983 | Chelsea Hotel Leica Medal of Excellence | 1985 | Venice Beach Life magazine Award | Finalist of W. Eugene Smith Grant | 1989 | Madness

One of the year's best books | American Photo | 1997 | Old Havana Vitae Foundation Scholarship | 1993 | Brazilian Carnaval Japan Foundation Scholarship | 1997 | Hong Kong Pictures of the Year | 1996 | Best Photo in a Magazine - Newsweek Higashikawa Award (Japan) | 1999 | Best Foreign Photographer | Carnaval PDN Photo Annual | 2003 | One of the year's best personal projects | Rio PDN Photo Annual | 2006 | One of the year's best books | Rio Porto Seguro Award | 2007 | São Paulo 4x5 2009 Best Photographic Book | 2009 | CLIX Magazine | São Paulo Porto Seguro Award | 2010 | Sertão da Bahia PDN Photo Annual | 2010 | One of the year's best personal projects | Sertão da Bahia Hasselblad Award | 2011 | Downtown Los Angeles Abril Award | 2012 | Best Photo Essay | Santa Catarina

Exhibits 2025 Leica Gallery (New York) | Chelsea Hotel | solo 2024 MIS (São Paulo) | Coisas que eu vi | solo 2024 Oscar 900 (São Paulo) | Rio | group 2023 SP Arte (São Paulo) | Galeria Lume | Machina Mundi | group 2022 SP Arte Rotas Brasileiras (São Paulo) - Galeria Lume | Machina Mundi | solo 2022 Paraty em Foco (Rio de Janeiro) | Galeria Zoom | Paraty | solo 2022 Galeria Lume (São Paulo) | Quarentena | solo 2021 Paris Photo - Galeria Lume (Paris) | Sertão da Bahia | solo 2019 Galeria Murilo de Castro (Belo Horizonte) | Machina Mundi Nova York | group 2019 Galeria Carbono | Machina Mundi Toscana | solo 2019 Galeria Lume (São Paulo) | Machina Mundi New York | solo 2017 Musee de L'Homme (Paris) | Sertão da Bahia | group 2018 Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | Machina Mundi New York | group 2017 Galeria Barbado (Lisboa) | Machina Mundi | solo 2016 Museu Olímpico de Lausanne (Switzerland) | Rio de Janeiro | group 2016 Le Magazyn (Los Angeles) | Venice Beach | solo 2016 Galeria Lume (São Paulo) | Machina Mundi | solo 2015 Galeria Pinakotheke | Rio de Janeiro | solo 2015 MUBE (São Paulo) | O Paradoxo do Olhar | solo 2015 SP Arte - Galeria Lume | Aeromodelismo | group 2015 SP Foto - Galeria Lume | Rio de Janeiro | group 2015 SP Foto - Galeria Arte 57 | Aeromodelismo | group 2015 ArtRio - Galeria Arte 57 | Aeromodelismo | group

2014 Museu Oscar Niemeyer (Curitiba) | Sertão da Bahia | group 2014 SP Foto - Pequena Galeria | Sertão da Bahia | group 2014 SP Foto - Galeria Arte 57 | Rio de Janeiro | group 2014 ArtRio - Galeria Arte 57 | Rio de Janeiro | group 2014 La Quatrième Image (Paris) | Madness | solo 2013 La Quatrième Image (Paris) | Sertão da Bahia | solo 2013 ArtRIo - Galeria Arte 57 | Rio de Janeiro | group 2013 ArtRio - Pequena Galeria | Sertão da Bahia | group 2013 SP Arte - Galeria Arte 57 | Veneza | group 2013 SP Arte - Pequena Galeria | Sertão da Bahia | group 2013 SP Arte - Galeria Arte 57 | Veneza | group 2013 SP Arte - Galeria Lume | Sertão da Bahia | group 2013 SP Arte - Pequena Galeria | Sertão da Bahia | group 2013 SP Arte - Fotospot | New York | group

2013 Instituto Tomie Ohtake | São Paulo | group 2012 ArtRIo - Pequena Galeria (Rio de Janeiro) | Sertão da Bahia | group 2012 ArtRio - Galeria Arte 57 (Rio de Janeiro) | Rio de Janeiro BW | group 2012 SP Arte-Foto - Pequena Galeria (São Paulo) | Bahia | group 2012 SP Arte-Foto - Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | Downtown LA | group 2012 Museu da Imagem e do Som (São Paulo) | Sertão da Bahia | solo

2011 Samuel Owen Gallery (Connecticut) | São Paulo | group 2011 Maison Europeénne de la Photographie | Rio | group 2011 Athena Galeria de Arte (Rio de Janeiro) | Rio | group 2011 SIM (Curitiba) | Santa Catarina | group 2011 Casa 11 Photo (Rio de Janeiro) | Santa Catarina e São Paulo | group 2011 Galeria Maria Baró | Amazônia | group 2011 ArtRio - Galeria Athena (Rio de Janeiro) | Rio | group

2011 SP Arte - Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | Santa Catarina | group 2010 Arterix (São Paulo) | Sertão da Bahia | solo 2010 1500 Gallery (New York) | São Paulo | solo 2010 SP Arte Foto - Galeria arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Amazônia | group 2010 SP Arte - Galeria arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Amazônia | group 2009 Espaço de Arte Trio (São Paulo) | Paris | solo 2009 SP Arte Foto - Galeria arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Paris | group 2009 SP Arte - Galeria arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Paris | coletiva 2009 Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | São Paulo | solo 2008 iContemporânea - Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | São Paulo | solo 2008 SP Arte - Galeria Arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Madness | solo 2007 iContemporânea - Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | Rio | solo 2007 Galeria Arte 57 ( São Paulo) | Flesh and Spirit | solo 2006 SP Arte - Galeria Arte 57 (São Paulo) | Sertão da Bahia | solo 2005 Palazzo Magnani (Milão) | Madness | solo 2003 Galeria Leica (São Paulo) | Rio | solo 2003 Photo España (Madrid) | Madness | solo 2001 Museu de Arte Moderna (São Paulo) | Cityscapes | solo 2000 Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro) | Portraits | solo 1999 Higashikawa Photo Fest (Japão) | Carnaval | solo 1999 Fotogaleria Li (São Paulo) | Portraits | solo 1997 Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro) | Carnaval | solo 1996 Museu Metropolitano de Curitiba | Carnaval| solo 1996 Museu da Imagem e do Som (São Paulo) | Carnaval | solo 1995 Galeria Fotóptica (São Paulo) | Old Havana | solo 1993 Maine Photographic Workshop (USA) | India | solo 1992 Galeria Cândido Mendes (Rio de Janeiro) | Madness | solo 1991 Visa Pour L’Image (Perpignam, France) | Madness | solo 1991 Museu de Arte de São Paulo | Pirelli Collection | solo 1990 Galeria Fotoptica (São Paulo) | Madness | solo 1990 Drew University (USA) | India, Madness, Hassidic Jews| solo 1988 Galeria Fotoptica (São Paulo) | India | solo 1985 Museu de Arte Contemporânea (São Paulo) | Trienal de Fotografia | solo 1984 Galeria Arco (São Paulo) | Venice Beach | solo 1983 Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris) | Brazilian Photography | solothumb|Book: Machina Mundi - Sub Specie Aeterni 1983 Photographer’s Gallery (London) | Brazilian Photography | solo 1980 Parson's School of Design (New York) | Hassidic Jews | solo 1978 International Center of Photography (New York) | Hassidic Jews | solo 1976 Museu de Arte de São Paulo | São Paulo | group 1975 Museu de Arte de São Paulo | Martinelli | solo

Teaching and lecturing

The New School/Parson’s School of Design | teacher from 1979 to 1994. International Center of Photography | teacher from 1992 to 1995, The Maine Photographic Workshop | teacher from 1991 to 1993, New York University | 1985 | Lecture, School of Visual Arts | 1980/81/82 | Lecture, Drew University | 1990 | Lecture, Workshop | Jornal “O Globo” Workshop | Editora Abril Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil | 1988 | Palestra Workshop | Paraty em Foco | 2006/07/08/09/10/11/12/13/14

Workshop | Foto Porto Alegre | 2009 Workshop | Tiradentes Foto em Pauta | 2011/12/13/14 Workshop e Palestra | Canela Foto Workshops | 2013 Workshop | CASA DO SABER | 2013/14 | História da fotografia Workshop | CASA DO SABER | 2013/14 | Fotografia e Impressionismo

Work in the collections of

AT&T Photo Collection • Adriana Rondon • Alberto de Carvalho Alves • Alfredo Setubal • Aline de Almeida Prado Ana Luiza Brant de Carvalho e Nerval Ferreira Braga • Ana Vitória Mota • Anna Alvarenga • Antonia Galdeano Ataide Vaz • Antonio Carlos e Bibia Cunha Lima • Banco Itaú • Beatriz Vidigal Araújo • Bernardo e Celia Parnes Betina e Gilberto Martins Ferreira • Betty Cunali • Bianca Cutait • Bianca Rainer • Bianca Munis Bibia e Neno Cunha Lima • Brazil Golden Art Fund • Bruno Musatti • Carlos e Maria Emilia Carvalhosa Carla Ferraro • Carmen de Barros • Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil • Cliff Lee • Charlô Whately • Christina Cunalithumb|Book: 30 anos Claudia Belinello • Claudia Jaguaribe • Credit Suisse • Dado Castello Branco • Daniel Feffer • David Feffer Claudia e João Nercessian • Denise Aguiar Alvarez Dudu e Mara Linhares • Eder Chiodetto • Edu e Helô Muylaert • Dr. Eduardo Villaça • Elias Landsberger Elisa Pacheco Fernandes • Equity International Photo Collection • Esther Giobbi • Fanny Feffer • Felipe Feitosa Flavia Soares • Flavio e Bia Bitelman • Fernando Ullmann • Greg e Claudia Sanchotene • Higashikawa Photofest (Japão) Gustavo Lacerda • Helô Monteiro da Silva • Helena e Toninho de Castro Sannini • Illia e Ana Maria Warchavchic International Center of Photography | New York • Itaú Cultura | São Paulo • Jay Colton • João e Fatima Farkas João Marcos Mendes de Souza • Joelma Radziuk • Joaquim Paiva • João Paulo e Adriana Cunha Lima João Paulo Diniz • Jorge e Janja Gonçalves • Jorginho da Cunha Lima • José Augusto de Santana • José Roberto Marinho José Olavo Scarabotolo • Juan Esteves • Jussara Magnami • Leonel Kaz • Ligia Danesi • Ligia Maura Costa Lisa Sander • Lourdinha Siqueira • Lucia Hauptmann • Luis Fernando e Maribel T. Neves • Luzia de Magalhães Padilha Maison Europeene de La Photographie (Paris) • MAC - Museu de Arte Contemporânea | São Paulo Malan Ferreira • MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna | São Paulo • Marcelo e Carol Filardi Maná Soares • Mariana Almeida Prado • Mariana e Ricardo Annunciato Marilisa Cardoso e José Eduardo de Lacerda Soares • Maria Emilia Cunali • Mark Whitley • Marli Mariano MASP - Museu de Arte de S. Paulo • Museu da Imagem e do Som | São Paulo • Museu Metronòm | Barcelona Museu Metropolitano de Curitiba • Marcel Jung • Nerval e Bize Ferreira Braga • Nina Sander • Oswaldo Pepe Otávio R. Macedo • Coleção Pirelli • Paula Palhares e Rubens Fernandes Junior • Patricia Mendes Caldeira Raquel Correa de Oliveira • Renato Ganhito • Renato Magalhães Gouvêa Jr. • Renato Padro Costa • Ricardo Moraes Ricardo Queiroz • Roberta Rossetto • Roberto Carvalho • Roberto Ruhman • Rodrigo Ribeiro Sandra Arruda e Andre Balbi • Sergio Gantmanis Munis • Silvio Bentes • Silvio Frota • Simonetta Persichetti Thomas Farkas • Tutu e Sérgio Galvão Bueno • Vanessa Gantmanis e Ivan Munis Visa Pour L' Image | Perpignam | França • Yael e Claudio Steiner

Editorial credits

American Photo • Art News • Business Week • Bons Fluidos • Boston Globe • Bravo Casa Claudia Luxo • Claudia • Conde Nast's Traveler • Daily Telegraph of London • Details • Elle • Epoca Estado de São Paulo • Folha de S.Paulo • Forbes • Fortune • Fotosite • Fotografe Melhor Digital Photographer • Isto é • Joyce Pascowitch • Life • Los Angeles Times • Marie Claire • Money National Geographic • Newsweek • The New York Times Magazine • Nico • Oi • Poder • Photo France Photo Italy • Photo District News • Paris Match • People • Playboy • República • Rolling Stone • Self The Smithsonian • Sports Illustrated • Stern • Time • Town & Country • Travel & Leisure • USA Today US • US News • Valor • Vanity Fair • Veja • Washington Post