ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the decisive role of MASP's educational projects in shaping Geraldo de Barros's photographic eye, particularly in regards to the museum's investment in the practice of modern design in Brazil. It argues that Geraldo de Barros's exhibition, Fotoforma, which opened in 1951 at MASP, reveals the museum's influence on his body of work based on two attributes. These includes: the artist's careful regard for the design of everyday objects as a foundation for his photographic compositions and the exhibition design of Fotoforma based on Lina Bo Bardi's radical installation strategies invented in the early days of MASP. The chapter proposes that MASP had greater influence over the development of Barros's photography than the Bandeirante Photography and Cinema Club, the main center of influence for Sao Paulo photographers, which Barros frequented in the 1940s and 50s. Director Pietro Maria Bardi and architect Lina Bo Bardi's vision for MASP included the creation of a museum-school.
