Ouro Preto Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

A more classical view of colonial Ouro Preto, a UNESCO World Heritage Landmark.
Founded in 1698, Ouro Preto (Black Gold)was the focal point of the gold rush and Brazil's golden age in the 18th century. It still resembled a boom town when it was given city status in 1711 with the name Vila Rica. A decade later it became capital of Minas Gerais captaincy, which even today is one of the principal mineral extracting regions of Brasil. In late 1790's a group of intellectuals and professionals assembled here to plan Brazil's independence from Portugal. The movement known as Inconfidencia Mineira was promptly crushed by the Crown and its leader, a dentist, immortalized as Tiradentes (toothpooler), was executed and beheaded. In 1823, a year after Brazil's independence, Ouro Preto was named capital of Minas Gerais province. In 1897, however, because of transportation difficulties the capital was transferred to Belo Horizonte.
Ouro Preto today lives largely in the past. In 1933 it was declared a national monument and the surrounding region a national park, so that the city's elaborate (mostly late 18th-century) public buildings, churches, and houses might be preserved or restored. The city has many extremely ornate (gold leafed) Baroque churches; religious architecture and sculpture reached its zenith during the mid 1700's under the skillful hands of Antonio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho ("Little Cripple").
Its museums and churches are rich and beautiful. Most recently Ouro Preto was used for the signing of the new economic treaty linking Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, known as Mercosul.

Zanni, RGatward, JorgeJacinto, hantulaut, burdallet, elroyie, jurgen, pamastro, Huthmacher, laxpix, manu_itu, meyavuz, oreyd has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Zanni (5893) 2004-07-11 10:05

Good pov. Beautiful the diagonal of degrading houses in foreground. The picture is very sharpness too. Great note. A hard job here Elena.

JorgeJacinto (1029) 2004-07-11 10:16

Muita boa composição, cores
vivas !
É um bom postal do Brasil !

burdallet (0) 2004-07-11 10:42

Gold is creating a fury in minds when the new of discovery is arriving . The gold rush-cities reflect this aspect of the human organisation : it's that case . even it were very hilly slopes ( not good for building except if you have a nice view :-) are built mecanicaly to be closer from the El-Dorado
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Il semble qu'il manque le bas de l'image , la rue / the street seems to be missed do, Do it look like Frisco ?

MARIUS (2240) 2004-07-11 11:03 [Comment]

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elroyie (2750) 2004-07-11 11:39

Very good picture and very good note, the structure of the buildings in the frame is very good.

jurgen (2000) 2004-07-11 13:10

Algunas personas me dijeron que Ouro Preto es como el Cuzco de Brasil. Es una ciudad que no conozco y a la que quiero ir. Con esta foto sé a qué se referían cuando me decían eso. Aquí muestras bien la clásica arquitectura del siglo XVIII, todas las casas con balcones, techos a dos aguas, una iglesia del otro lado, y algo notorio, muchas colinas en el fondo. Mui linda foto.

centurion (0) 2004-07-11 13:45

Interesting and original view. Good comp.

pamastro (7213) 2004-07-11 22:38

Great capture. The buildings stepping down, echoing the descending road and letting us imagine it somewhere below. The point of view was great capturing the fronts of the buildings and then the rising hill behind it. There is a nice fluid movement given by this, allowing me to move down smoothly and then back up on the other side and into the distance. The colors, especially right here in the foreground, and sharpness are great. Very nicely done.

RGatward (19751) 2004-07-12 3:52

What a fantastic street, and very wel captured. Te only quibble is that my eye is led off the bottom of the frame. Good note too. Very early to realise the value of architectural heritage, it took us some time in Euope, and in the '60s our city planners probably did more damage than wartime bombers. Points tomorrow.

spence (1554) 2004-07-12 6:00

Terrific pov and an interesting architectural shot Elena. Very nice composition, light and sharpness. I like it a lot.

Mrg (823) 2004-07-18 13:48

Like this kind of colonial architecture.Looks like the places of soap operas made in Brazil thet we see here in Portugal :) Good composition, great photo!

bairam (19) 2004-11-01 3:52

Excellent shot. Perfect diagonal. All it's nice.

Roussillon (192) 2005-09-25 0:23

Excellent photo, great composition, and a very exciting view of Brazil! I think it would be an IDEAL photo if the background of the church and the hills was in focus. The foreground leads the eye into the background, making it just as important as the foreground. The foreground, while interesting and beautiful, should not be the main focus in this photograph because the facade of the buildings is viewed from an angle, slanting downwards and partially cut off. I think the church on the hill in the background is naturally the main focus of the photograph.

Great job, this is one of my favourites!

paura (39608) 2006-05-07 18:08

Linda a foto!
É um foto bem representativa de Ouro Preto.

Parabens!

Paulo