tiradentes photo exhibit, “to belém” book launch, and film debut


set-upAuthor Ben Batchelder wrapped up a full year of book-related launches, eleven all told, with the Mineiro, or regional, launch of To Belém & Back.

The final event of the year returned To Belém & Back to its roots, in the colonial, mountain town in Brazil where the journey began. The evening included the opening for a month-long photo exhibition named “Tiradentes: Becos e Berços” (Tiradentes: Alleys & Cradles), including 26 B&W images mostly taken by the author/photographer while on morning walks with his black Lab. The images were entirely hand-made, without any digital processing, from negative developing to photo enlarging, in Ben’s backyard laundry darkroom that is only dark at night.  [please hover over images for captions]

For the Mineiro launch of To Belém & Back, the author created a 20 minute film “Tiradentes 2 Belém” that bridges the transition from living in Tiradentes to the book’s journey, which debuted in the Cultural Center’s auditorium. Over three dozen people signed the exhibition’s guest book, which was a very good turnout for a rainy night.

A Q&A followed, with a book signing during which the book’s 4 minute trailer was shown.

Thanks to all the people at Centro Cultural Yves Alves and Earthdog Press who made this event possible.

(The event received good media coverage, from the region’s main newspaper in São João, to Tiradentes’s radio station, and also from the regional TV station, which aired an interview with the author, in Portuguese, below.)


About Ben

Ben Batchelder has traveled some of the world's most remote roads. Nothing in his background, from a degree in Visual & Environmental Studies at Harvard to an MBA from Wharton, adequately prepared him for the experiences. Yet he persists, for through such journeys life unfolds. Having published four books that map the inner and exterior geographies of meaningful travel, he is a mountain man in Minas Gerais, Brazil who comes down to the sea at Miami Beach, Florida. His second travel yarn, To Belém & Back, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. For more, visit www.benbatchelder.com.