Valter Hugo Mãe asserts that “everyone should experience the therapeutic act of being photographed naked,” as mentioned in the opening of his work.
“Every person deserves such an encounter at least once in their lifetime. There is a need to explore the nuances of the body, its choreographies that are as much plastic as they are spiritual,” argues the author of “A Desumanização”.
In the preface, Hugo Mãe recalls the visual artist Isabel Lhano (1953-2023), who believed photographers were inherently sensual, “citing Alfredo Cunha as an example to discuss the oddity of them spending their lives behind the camera despite having the physique to be in front of it.”
The author does not accept the notion that “photographers are chosen for their beauty,” but he acknowledges that “being photographed highlights our needs and reminds us of our desires.”
The book contains over 100 black-and-white photographs by Alfredo Cunha, featuring male and female bodies, organized into chapters introduced by texts from Ariana Aragão: “Of Desire,” “Clarity,” “Myopia,” “Plastic Fetish.”
Valter Hugo Mãe describes this work as “a journey through desire; a hedonistic and provocative exercise by the authors, challenging whoever appreciates it”; a “dive” into the “intimacy and visual dialect” of Alfredo Cunha, which he believes has “never been exposed so completely.”
According to Hugo Mãe, “Cartography of Desire” is like “an inner journey, a narrative of exaltation.”
“May this work rekindle in others the same flame that inspired its creation,” concludes Valter Hugo Mãe.
Ariana Aragão is the pseudonym of Sandra Maria Teixeira, born in 1977, in Porto, who holds a master’s degree in Design and Graphic Production from the University of Barcelona. She works as a researcher affiliated with the University of Algarve and as an art curator in the field of photography.
She leads Studio Raro-Sinergias Criativas e Culturais, which she founded. She is also the president of Rota das Conservas – Association for the Preservation of the Memory and Cultural Heritage of the Sea, founded in 2018.
Alfredo Cunha was born in 1953 in Celorico da Beira and began his professional career in 1970 in the field of advertising and commercial photography.
As a photojournalist, he began at Noticias da Amadora and later worked for newspapers and magazines such as O Século, Século Ilustrado, Vida Mundial, Público, as well as the Portuguese news agency ANOP and its successor, agency Lusa.
He is currently involved in editorial projects, as noted by publisher Guerra & Paz.
Cunha served as the official photographer of the Presidency of the Republic during the terms of António Ramalho Eanes from 1976 to 1986, and Mário Soares from 1986 to 1996.
Between 1989 and 1997, he was the photo editor at Público, later working with Edipresse, where he was a photographer and editor.
In 2002, he collaborated with journalist Ana Sousa Dias on the television program “Por outro lado” (RTP2).
Between 2003 and 2009, he was a photographer and editor at Jornal de Notícias and from 2010 to 2012, he served as the photo director of Agência Global de Notícias.
As a photojournalist, his notable work includes coverage of the April 25th Revolution, the decolonization process, the Ongoing Revolutionary Process (PREC), the fall of Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, and the Iraq War in 2003.
Alfredo Cunha’s extensive bibliography includes works like “Raízes da Nossa Força” (1972), “Vidas Alheias” (1975), “Naquele Tempo” (1995), “Porto de Mar” (1998), “Cuidado com as Crianças” (2003), “Fátima, Enquanto Houver Portugueses” (2017), “A Benção dos Animais” (2021), along with “Mar de Fé” and “Alfredo Cunha – Photographo,” both published this year.
Cunha has been awarded the Medal of Cultural Merit and the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
