Title: Horacio Coppola :
Authors: Coppola, Horacio,; Priamo, LLuis.; Brizuela, Natalia.; Oubiña, David.
Date: 2009
Publisher: Jorge Mara La Ruche,
Physical description: 216 pages, 32 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 30 sm.+ 1 DVD
Language: Spanish
LC classification: T
Abstract: A major work on Coppola and his place in modern photography. Many previously unpublished photographs, a DVD of his four films done in the early 1930's, and a comparative chapter showing his work with other modernist photographers of the period. Horacio Coppola (Buenos Aires, 1906) was a young man without a definite vocation when he traveled to Europe in 1931. He had attended the conference gave Le Corbusier's visit to Buenos Aires in 1929 and collaborated with two pictures for the Evaristo Carriego of Borges. Without knowing it, was about to embark on a journey of initiation that would change his life. He toured Spain, France, Italy and Germany, and by the end of the trip he bought his first Leica camera, which allowed him to take high quality images while playing with the frames and provide an unexpected ductility prior to the photographers who used machine drawer. The exhibition focus is on this first period of his work: during the return from his first trip to Europe with photos taken at the ports of Brazil that the ship docked on his return to Buenos Aires ( San Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos). The photographs already show in the words of Jorge Mara, "a point of view coppoliano," that of a photographer absolutely in line with all modernist precepts. We do not know if this first trip saw the photos of the most advanced in Europe, or what influenced him, but certainly with the spirit of the time give us beautiful images, unusual for their frames and motifs. Fruit vendor Chalupas seen from above, the chimneys of the ships, unusual angles cities: the modern photographer's eye is already present. Coppola returned to Europe in 1932, with a more defined objective: to study photography at the University of Marburg, with the chair of History of Art at Richard Hamann. The Department of Photography of Marburg had closed and Fritz Heller advised him to head to Berlin, the Bauhaus, where he met Grete Stern (who would become his wife) and Peterhans, his teacher. The correct way to take a picture, according Peterhans, was that the point should be decided before the camera frame with the viewfinder, not through it. So the picture was already taken by clicking on the mind of the photographer. And the photos displayed amply illustrate this position: his vision of the interwar European cities like Berlin, Budapest and London, between 1932 and 1935, offers images of a poor Europe and that still retains its traditions. Coppola photos shared a lot of similarity with those of European and American colleagues. Common themes that moved photographing the modern city: the windows, mannequins, bicycles, architectural details, medians, the contrast between new and old, the beggars. There are all these artists with a conscience, an awareness that the subject par excellence of the twentieth century would be the city, the modern city. There is a perceived urgency, a wildness to record what happens, and at the same time, a dialogue with the film, his other passion. A close look at social problems and the fellowship of those images are the priests of modern photography: Moholy Nagy, Brassai (especially in Paris), Cartier Bresson, Andr Kertsz, the great German Otto Umber, Germaine Krull, Paul Strand and Edward Weston.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references DVD: "Horacio Coppola: Sueño. Berlin, 1933. Un Muelle del Sena. Paris, 1934. Un Domingo en Hampstead Heath. Londres, 1935. Así nació el Obelisco. Buenos Aires, 1936"
Subject headings (LCSH): Coppola, Horacio, 1906-; Coppola, Horacio, 1906---Biography.; Coppola, Horacio, 1906---Criticism and interpretation.; Coppola, Horacio, 1906-2012--Criticism and interpretation.; Coppola, Horacio, 1906-2012.; Documentary photography--Argentina--20th century.; Documentary photography--Europe--20th century.; Photographers--Argentina.; Street photography--Argentina.; Street photography--Europe.