Born in Flores island,
Azores Islands,
Portugal, he emigrated to Brazil in 1855. It is unclear how Christiano Junior learned the techniques of photography. In 1863 he began its activities in
Rio de Janeiro. During that period, the subjects of his photos are mainly slaves and people affected by
Lymphatic filariasis. During the period he lived in Rio de Janeiro, he photographed several African-descendants slaves, which were almost half of the city's population by then (110,000 out of a total of 266,000 inhabitants). His camera caught the slaves in poses that staged their professional activities. Most pictures depicted street vendors. Junior collaborated with the institution until 1878, when he sold his studio.
San Luis,
San Juan,
Santiago del Estero,
Catamarca,
Tucumán,
Salta and
Jujuy provinces to complete the work stated with
Vistas y costumbres.... Nevertheless, and after four years of trip throughout Argentina the artist ceased his activity as a photographer in 1883. Even unfinished, the work made by Christiano Junior during those 4 years is considered one of the most important and ambitious projects in Argentine and Latin America. Christiano Junior died in
Asunción, Paraguay, in 1902. == Bibliography ==