Gautherot was a modernist who believed light to be the basis of both architecture and photography — a belief revealed quite clearly in these photos. Pristinely framed black and white shots, they capture sunlight revealing the facades of the monumental concrete buildings in bold fields of light and shadow. Many of the shots are cropped to isolate and abstract architectural elements, celebrating the surreal grace of Niemeyer’s sensuous whitewashed forms. Other shots situate the buildings within the wide-open, virgin landscape. At the time the photographs were taken the surrounding lands were unoccupied, and the vision of these striking modern forms rising like mirages from empty fields is dazzling. The views underscore Brazil’s immensity and its New World history.

Several photographs, just as stunning formally as the architectural shots, document the construction of the buildings, showing workers assembling steel framework and pouring concrete. Others reveal the personal life of the workers, picturing them with their families outside their small, temporary houses on the outskirts of the city. These portraits, while handsome, are disruptive, at odds with the cool formal beauty of the architecture shots. But it’s revealing that Gautherot photographed the workers and their families as he was studying the city. At the moment these photos were taken, just as Brasilia was being born, their work and their aspirations were deeply wound up in its development. Brasilia was conceived with great faith in modernity and democracy, which is captured here perfectly.