Retratos Pintados the current exhibition at Yossi Milo Gallery, presents a unique look at a little known and fascinating photographic tradition from Northeastern Brazil. The 150 vintage painted photographs stem from a practice popular in parts of rural Brazil since the late 19th century. Until the 1990s local artisans were commonly employed to embellish black and white family portraits using washes of oil paint and other techniques indigenous to the area. The practice was not wholly decorative. Long before the denizens of Myspace were photoshopping themselves into oblivion, Brazilian families were wrinkle free, had white smiles and full heads of hair.
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