Thomas Farkas is interested in the dynamics as well as the progression of photography. He states that professionals as well as amateurs learn through investigation of classic and modern techniques and what can further be done with photography; that is, tackling photography as a means of expression. In his opinion, he feels that on one hand there are professional types of work (relating to reporting, documentation, propaganda), and on the other non-professional varieties (relating to abstract or surreal photography, frames, textures and designs, and the expression of movement). Farkas ponders on the social function of the latter and suggests they opt to be didactic in character, since their questioning leads us to thinking. In other words, photography has its positive value in society because the knowledge of its language can lead to other forms of art.

In this text, the photographer Thomas Farkas (1924−2011) appears to reinforce photography’s axiology: its artistic value. Hungarian by birth, Farkas, jointly with Geraldo de Barros (1923−1998), were responsible for establishing an experimental laboratory of photography and its corresponding courses at the MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), inaugurated in 1947. In 1949, Farkas held his first solo exhibition. Linked to the Foto-Cine Clube Bandeirante, he was, without a doubt, a pioneer in modern photography in Brazil, which radically disassociated itself from the picturesque “Pictorialism” characteristic of the early 20th century. Farkas was involved in cinematography and specifically produced documentaries. He was the proprietor of a photographic shop called Fotóptica that also distributed the eponymous specialized magazine on photography, Fotóptica, and included an exhibitions gallery on photography.

At the same time, Íris magazine, which appeared in 1947, had João Koranyi as its Editor-in-Chief. It was published for a long time serving as a great outlet for the dissemination of Brazilian photography. It went through various phases until it ceased to circulate with the launch of its last issue in 1999.