Valdir Cruz

[5] He collaborated with Tice in the authorized production of two Steichen portfolios, Juxtapositions (1986) and Blue Skies (1987) after which time he devoted his energies exclusive to his own work.

Nothing escapes from his attentive gaze that elaborates a visual universe based on a map of procedures that reveals pure forms and impertinent abstractions, with strange and pulsating lights.

One can perceive that Valdir waited patiently for the moment at which the entire improbable natural order of everyday scenes enters into revolution and explodes into the beauty of his photography.

The restrained palette concentrates the impact, increasing punch and power as Cruz imbues his mute subjects with infinite compassion.

For the Brazilian-born Mr. Cruz, whose earlier successes as a portraitist centered on the famous—the likes of Henry Kissinger and Spike Lee—it was this sense of something unknown to the world and rapidly slipping away that lured him from his home and studio on West 14th Street into the rain forest.

—Randy Kennedy[15]For New York-based photographer Valdir Cruz, the view camera is an instrument for disclosure and interpretation, not simply a means of exposure and recording.