Venezuelan Explorer Charles Brewer-Carías’ Photo Collection Destroyed in Massive Fire

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Tragic news out of Venezuela as Charles Brewer-Carías’ studio was destroyed in a fire and, with it, a treasure trove of photographs detailing his work in Venezuela.

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels.

A renowned photographer and explorer who began his working life as a dentist, Charles Brewer-Carías is well known among travel photographers and amassed a huge collection of some 250,000 photos printed and on film. As PetaPixel reports, very few of these works were preserved digitally. Aside from the photographs, other cultural artifacts were reportedly destroyed in what the photographer’s daughter calls a true loss to Venezuela’s cultural heritage as well as for the broader world of photography.

“Besides the majestic landscapes of Venezuelan Guiana, destroyed photographs in the fire recorded specimens of plants, insects, mammals and all kinds of wildlife, masterfully captured both for divulgation and for scientific study…And as Charles himself said, they constitute a record of what existed in the area ‘during his time,’ and that will not be recorded again,” PetaPixel quotes an unnamed source about the fire.

Apparently, a humidifier that was being used to preserve his photographs had a malfunction and burned down his home and studio. The fire was so intense it consumed the roof of the structure as well as all of the contents inside of the building.

His daughter Karen has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her father resume his career as well as pursue his goal of publishing more photography books.

You can check out the GoFundMe campaign at this link right here.

Were you familiar with Charles Brewer-Carías’ work? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section below.

Don’t forget to check out some of our other photography news at this link.

[PetaPixel]

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Kehl is our staff photography news writer since 2017 and has over a decade of experience in online media and publishing and you can get to know him better here and follow him on Insta.

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