Perspective, Depth, and Scale at the Santuário São Francisco de Assis

Lens-Artists Challenge #403: Tools of Photo Composition: Perspective, Depth, and Scale

This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge is hosted by John. He continues his series of compositional tools in photography. Specifically, he wants us to focus our attention on the “tools that shape visual space: perspective, depth, and scale.” You can see his post and examples here.

For my response, I will focus on the Santuário Arquidiocesano São Francisco de Assis in Pampulha, a neighborhood on the northwestern edge of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. I captured these images just a couple of weeks ago, at the end of our second week in Brazil. When I compose in the field, I am not always thinking of rules. I focus on the most pleasing arrangement for my eyes. Looking back at these images, I do think they follow the principles that John presents in his challenge.

The sanctuary was completed in 1943, designed by Oscar Niemeyer with structural calculations by engineer Joaquim Cardozo. It is the centerpiece of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble, a complex of cultural and leisure buildings commissioned by then-mayor Juscelino Kubitschek around an artificial lake. The ensemble also includes a former casino (now the Museu de Arte da Pampulha), a ballroom (Casa do Baile), and a yacht club. Niemeyer abandoned the conventional architecture of slabs on columns and instead created a series of parabolic concrete vaults — a form previously reserved for hangars — that function as both structure and enclosure. The sweeping exterior mosaics are the work of Cândido Portinari, one of Brazil’s most celebrated painters; the landscaping is by Roberto Burle Marx, whose fluid, abstract designs were as much art as horticulture. Portinari’s work continues inside, where a monumental mural fills the altar apse.

Despite being completed in 1943, the church was not consecrated until 1959 — for 16 years, the Archbishop of Belo Horizonte blocked its use for Catholic services, deeming its radical design incompatible with sacred functions. In October 2021, the building was elevated to the status of Archdiocesan Sanctuary. On July 17, 2016, the Pampulha Modern Ensemble was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul. Even before that designation, there were compelling reasons to make the visit: three Brazilian masters — Niemeyer, Burle Marx, and Portinari — collaborated on a single building, each working at the height of his powers.

Perspective and Depth: The Side View

The first image looks at the sanctuary from the side, taking in the cascading parabolic vaults and the blue azulejo panels on the exterior wall. Perspective is at work in two places: the curving walkway in the foreground pulls the eye diagonally into the scene, and the succession of vaults — each slightly smaller and further away — gives the building its receding rhythm. Depth is layered across three planes: the foreground path and red plantings, the church itself with Portinari’s tile work, and the tree canopy behind. Scale is provided by the imperial palm at left, its tall, slender trunk rising far above the church’s roofline and underscoring how emphatically horizontal Niemeyer’s design sits on the landscape.

Depth: Looking Out Through the Glass

The vestibule of the sanctuary frames one of the most compelling depth studies in the set. Looking outward through the large glass panels, the image moves from the corrugated ceiling overhead, through the interior space, past the glass and its arched window mullions, across the open plaza, to Pampulha Lake, and finally to the distant treeline and sky. Five distinct planes, all legible in a single frame. The parallel lines of the corrugated ceiling also serve a perspectival role, converging toward the glass wall and drawing the eye outward. The two figures visible on the plaza outside provide the scale reference — small against the expanse of glass and the lake stretching behind them.

Perspective and Scale: The Altar Nave

Inside the nave, the wooden ceiling is the most immediate vehicle for perspective in the entire set. The planks radiate from the apex of the parabolic arch like the ribs of a fan, lines converging to a single point and drawing the gaze irresistibly toward the altar. Portinari’s mural of Saint Francis of Assisi fills the entire apse — a scene dense with figures rendered in the earthy reds and ochres he favored for sacred subjects. The three visitors standing near the altar complete the picture: beside the mural, they are small, and that contrast serves as the scale statement of the image, conveying the monumental interior of a building that looks deceptively compact from the outside. Since I was traveling with only one lens, I used my Samsung Galaxy S23 phone’s wide-angle lens to emphasize perspective in this shot.

Scale, Perspective, and Depth: The Front Entrance

The front entrance brings all three compositional tools into balance. Scale dominates: the freestanding stone bell tower on the right rises well above the church’s main arch, and the cluster of visitors at the entrance is dwarfed by both. The angled view introduces perspective — the tower’s sides converge slightly, and the glazed parabolic arch reads as a three-dimensional form rather than a flat facade. Depth comes from the Burle Marx landscape design in the foreground (a dove), the visitors and the church entrance in the mid-ground, and the trees and sky in the background. The organic, biomorphic lines of Burle Marx’s paving pattern, visible in the foreground, echo the curves of the architecture above — a detail that rewards a second look.

What a wonderful response you provided to last week’s challenge, when Sofia revisited our first Lens-Artists Challenge. I hope you will join this week’s challenge, too. Please don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag in your posts to help people find your wonderful challenge entries.

Next week, Beth will feature a new challenge. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page for more information about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history. If you don’t want to miss any future challenges, please consider subscribing to the team members’ websites. Here they are:

• Tina of Travels and Trifles.
• Patti of P.A. Moed.
• Ann-Christine of Leya.
• John of Journeys with Johnbo.
• Anne of Slow Shutter Speed.
• Sofia of Photographias.
• Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes.
• Ritva of Ritva Sillanmäki Photography.
• Beth of Wandering Dawgs.

That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Churches, Lens-Artists, Minas Gerais, Niemeyer, Pampulha, Parks, Portinari, Santuário Arquidiocesano São Francisco de Assis. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.

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Sources

Church of Saint Francis of Assisi — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Francis_of_Assisi

Pampulha Modern Ensemble — UNESCO World Heritage Centre. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1493/

Inscription of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble on UNESCO’s World Heritage List — Government of Brazil. https://www.gov.br/mre/en/contact-us/press-area/press-releases/inscription-of-the-pampulha-modern-ensemble-on-unesco-world-heritage-list-istanbul-july-17-2016

Pampulha Modern Ensemble — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampulha_Modern_Ensemble

Santuário Arquidiocesano São Francisco de Assis — Arquidiocese de BH. https://arquidiocesebh.org.br/arquidiocese/santuarios/santuario-sf-de-assis/