(Signed) Fordlândia9 by JM Ramírez-Suassi
A collection of works by Spanish photographer Juan Miguel Ramírez-Suassi.
This book contains photographs taken in three Brazilian states between 2017 and 2019, with the theme of the failed attempt to transplant American culture in Brazil and its aftermath.
In the 1920s, Henry Ford, the founder of the automobile company Ford Motor Company, purchased a large piece of land from the Brazilian government to develop a plantation of natural rubber, a raw material for tires, deep in the Amazon. The land that was cleared was named "Fordlândia" and was developed as an experimental city, not just a business area. Not only dispatched employees but also Brazilian indigenous people are employed there, and there are many things such as 8-hour work day, clean company housing, substantial welfare and education, transportation system, free hospitals, etc. Ford worked to realize a utopia based on its own American-style capitalist ideals.
On the other hand, however, there were many strict rules. For example, following Ford, who was a vegetarian, residents were forced to live a meat-free lifestyle, were prohibited from drinking alcohol, and were required to attend poetry readings and singing meetings. Fordlandia was also called the "Island of Purity", but as a result of excessive idealism, employees were dissatisfied and riots occurred. is the decisive blow. In 1945, Ford canceled the project and sold the land to the Brazilian government. Nearly 3,000 Brazilians still live in Fordlandia, although the factories and facilities are already in ruins.
Limited to 350 copies. Signed by the author and numbered.
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Title: Fordlândia9
Artist: JM Ramírez-Suassi
Self published, 2020
Hardcover, 229 x 279 mm
130 pages
Limited edition of 350 copies, signed and numbered
￥6,100 + tax