Photography
Tanara Stuermer
Altinha is a popular game played on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro—at Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana, Leme, and elsewhere. The aim is to keep the ball in the air without the players using their hands. This quintessentially Carioca sport emerged in the 1960s and is preferably played close to the water, where players’ feet are less likely to be scorched by the hot sand.
Tanara Stuermer explains: “I have always loved watching this sport. From the very beginning, I was struck by the beautiful spirit of solidarity that brings the players together. They are not competing. There is no rivalry. They all share the same playful objective: to keep the ball from touching the ground.”
Tanara Stuermer sees in these sporting scenes, animated by the movements of bodies and balls, a series of choreographies that she seeks to capture in her images. She experiments by layering tracing paper, creating a diffraction and decomposition of movement reminiscent of the work of Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey.
Altinha is a true artist’s book, making use of the transparency of fine paper to convey the artist’s formal explorations.
Altinha, Altinha, 24 × 30 cm (French format), 116 pages printed on a variety of papers, approximately 60 reproductions, three-colour printing, paperback with dust jacket and die-cut hole in the cover.
Text: Marly Porto
Graphic design: L’Atelier d’édition
