FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Katie Gray
katie.gray@spmj.com.br
504.390.1309 

Images can generate sounds, albeit imaginary ones. Based on this, Brazilian photographer and journalist Sérgio Poroger journeyed through the southeastern United States in December 2014, putting together a collection of photographs now available in his book, Cold Hot, sponsored by the Lafayette Convention and Visitor Center and other supporters. This coming February 21 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Sérgio will discuss his work and explain the trip he took to gather images and ideas for this work of art. The book tells the story of the region, and the 66 images give visual understanding.

The U.S. launch continues with 3 events in Lafayette, Louisiana over two days February 22 and 23. On Friday February 24 the tour travels to Jackson, Mississippi, followed by Clarksdale, Mississippi on Saturday February 25. Sérgio travels to Tennessee for the second week of touring to have launches in Memphis on February 27 and 28, Nashville on March 1 and Chattanooga on Thursday March 2. The tour finishes in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday March 3 and 4.

"I researched the region for almost two years simply because of my desire to photograph the region's musicality. However, I was surprised to find a region that stands apart from the rest of the United States, where music has such a major influence on the landscapes, architecture and customs of local residents, who are also different - they love to talk, they love to have conversations and they are happy and laid back. Basically, this is a place where everything becomes music!", explains Poroger. In addition to the photographs, Poroger wrote an introduction to the book and brief comments that weave the images together.

Poroger travelled over 3000 kilometers through the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, journeying along the legendary Blues Highway, Route 61, passing through landscapes that alternated between humble countryside lined with farmlands and opulent cities crowned with skyscrapers, but all with a common theme: the ever-present musicality. Few regions of the country offer such musical diversity, from old, sacred blues to country, branching through classic jazz and 50's rock and roll.

The route reflects that diversity: in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame is a mandatory destination for pilgrims, as is Wild Bill's, the wonderful show venue in the Memphis suburbs, which discovered, among others, a young man called Elvis Presley. Or the crossroads where routes 61 and 49 meet, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where blues legend Robert Johnson supposedly made his famous pact with the devil, now a mandatory part of any music history. And of course the New Orleans Preservation Hall, legendary temple to traditional jazz.

All of this has been recorded in Cold Hot, which the book's curator, Eder Chiodetto, who is one of the icons of Brazilian photographic curatorship, has compared to "the letters that recall the heroic excursions of itinerant photographers, who took us to unknown places, revealing ambiences, intimacies and cultures, drawing back the curtain to see behind the scenes". And why this title? Chiodetto says: "Breaking away from chronology and geography, the images are connected through their composition, through the interplay of light and color, through the recurring references and tonalities that reveal extreme warmth or a certain coldness, metaphorically reflecting the region's ambivalence, which oscillates between periods of intense heat and harsh cold."

The book also includes a presentation by author and music critic Carlos Calado, who defines it as an imaginary soundtrack created by the expressive images. "To feel this music, you do not need to have personally visited the many cities in the Southern United States that he photographed during visits to bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, recording studios and museums. This silent music can even be seen in the images that Sergio's lenses captured of the streets", said Calado.

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About Cold Hot

120 pages and 66 photographs
Photography and text - Sergio Poroger
Organization - Eder Chiodetto
Executive Producer - Patricia Bueloni
Graphic Design - Manuela Siffert Porto
Graphic Production and Image Treatment - Marcio Uva
Translation - Frank Turner
Printing: Ipsis (Brazil's foremost photography and art book publisher)
US Tour contact: Katie Gray katie.gray@spmj.com.br 504-390-1309

Cold Hot Launch 2017 events

New Orleans: Tuesday February 21

Tuesday February 21 from 1-4 pm
Woodward Way at Tulane University
Woldenberg Art Center, Newcomb Circle

Tuesday February 21 from 6-8 pm
Garden District Book Shop
2727 Prytania Street, New Orleans

Lafayette: Wednesday and Thursday, February 22 and 23

Wednesday February 22, 10am - 2 pm
Acadian Village
200 Greenleaf Drive, Lafayette

Wednesday February 22, 6-9pm
Randol's Seafood Restaurant
2320 Kaliste Saloom Road, Lafayette

Thursday, February 23, 10 am - 2 pm
Vermilionville Historic Village
300 Fisher Road, Lafayette

Jackson, Mississippi: Friday, February 24

Friday, February 24, 5-7pm
Lemuria Bookstore
4465 N Hwy 55, Jackson, Mississippi

Clarksdale, Mississippi: Saturday, February 25

Saturday, February 25, 1 - 3 pm
Delta Blues Museum
Blues Alley Ln, Clarksdale, Mississippi

Saturday, February 25, 6 - 8 pm
Shack Up Inn
1 Commissary Circle, Clarksdale, Mississippi

Memphis, Tennessee: Monday and Tuesday, February 27 and 28

Monday, February 27, 6 - 8 pm
BB King's Blues Club
143 Beale Street, Memphis, TN

Tuesday, February 28, 1pm - 3 pm
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
926 E McLemore Ave, Memphis, TN

Nashville, Tennessee: Wednesday, March 1

Wednesday, March 1, 8- 10 pm
Music City Bar and Grill
2416 Music Valley Drive, #161, Nashville, TN

Chattanooga, Tennessee: Thursday, March 2

Thursday March 2, 6-8 pm
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1400 Market Street, Chattanooga

Atlanta, Georgia: Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4

Saturday, March 4, 4 - 6 pm
A Cappella Books
208 Haralson Ave NE, Atlanta, GA