Remembering Rosa Gauditano: A Dive into Her Photographic Archive

Photographer Rosa Gauditano passed away on August 7, 2025, at the age of 70. In this essay, Erika Zerwes reflects on her decade-long collaboration with Gauditano, which culminated in a deep exploration of the photographer's archive for a retrospective exhibition at the Museu da Cidade de São Paulo commemorating 50 years of her career. Zerwes first met Gauditano in 2016 for an interview about Brazilian participation in the Latin American Photography Colloquiums of the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, they collaborated on projects including the 2017 book 'Máquinas Paradas, Fotógrafos em Ação' about the ABC strikes, and the 2021 photobook 'A Mesma Luta', which won awards including the ZUM Photobook Call. Gauditano's archive includes pioneering work from the late 1970s, such as a series on a brothel in São Paulo (1976) and an unpublished essay on lesbian life in São Paulo (1979), which was later shown at the 2023 Bienal. In July 2025, Zerwes spent a month in Brazil working with Gauditano on the exhibition, including a week living with her and going through her archive. Gauditano died suddenly the day after Zerwes returned to London. Her photo archive is now cared for by her daughter, Camila Gauditano.