[Photo Albums]: South American Construction Sites in the 1940s

Miami, Puerto Rico, Brazil, 1948. Hardcover. Very Good. Two Volumes. Quartos. Measuring 9.5" x 11.5". Black leatherette three-ring style binders. Containing 265 sepia-toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring around 3.5" x 4", with captions. Both albums very good with some rubbing and tiny tears with near fine photographs.

Two photo albums following a trip to South America through Miami, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad in 1947. The trip starts in Miami in October 1947, then to San Juan (stopping for plane repairs), Trinidad, and finally to Brazil. As they approached their landing the photographer captured aerial images of "Amazonland," "Interior Brazil," and a mountain range. The purpose of the trip appears to be a construction job but other photos from before work began and during their downtime show the beaches and leisure time spent in Brazil. Photos of Rio include Copacabana, Sugarloaf, and a distant photo of the downtown.

The construction photos show the men laying pipe, constructing water wells, oil wells, and digging holes. They lived in a tented encampment at the work site and are seen posed by their tents and vehicles when not working. Also captured are images of native Brazilians around the site featuring bare-breasted mothers holding their children, all in traditional dress. Christmas of 1947 was spent in the encampment and photos show the men cooking a turkey and smiling for the camera. Another photo of an iguana is captioned, "one good meal for five."

The second album begins with images from the airstrip after a short trip to Paraguay where they photographed leopard cubs that became defacto camp pets. One series of photos shows the men hunting an antelope with action shots of the animal running and the men following with the caption, "cowboys Paraguayan style." A photo on the following page shows the aftermath of the hunt which reads, "killed, bled, butchered." Later photos show members of the Paraguayan army with a group shot of a small company and images of men at rifle practice. The final pages show more hunting, men holding snakes, and the continuation of construction projects through the summer of 1948.

An extensive collection of photographs detailing a construction project in South America in the late 1940s.