163th Birthday of Vicente Gomes da Silva, Jr. (b. Funchal, 23/09/1857; d. Funchal, 30/05/1933), photographer and businessman, son of Vicente Gomes da Silva (1827-1906), founder of Photographia Vicente. In 1875, he started his professional activity as an assistant photographer in the said company, which he later managed until the date of his death. It is due to him that the architectural project and the direction of the works that took place between December 1886 and August 1887, of the central body of the building where today the Madeira Photography Museum - Atelier Vicente's is located, originally acquired in 1865 by his father. With this remodeling, Photographia Vicente not only modernized its photographic capture service, but also enhanced its graphic printing, joinery, machining and foundry services, where he produced in the workshop, with his father, the most varied furniture and accessories patents in the atelier, the wrought iron balconies that decorate the facade of the building and even some of the first impressions of Funchal's “Diário de Noticias”, following the breakdown of that newspaper's press in 1878.

As a photographer, he had a remarkable career, having captured the portrait of several illustrious personalities, such as Hermenegildo Capelo (1841 - 1917) and Roberto Ivens (1850 - 1898), explorers from the African continent who posed in the studio on 12/09/1885 and D. Carlos de Bragança (1863 - 1908) and Queen D. Amélia de Orléans (1865 - 1951) on the occasion of the royal visit to the island of Madeira in 1901. Following this event, he was awarded the royal letter of January 6, 1903, with the title “Photographo da Casa Real Portuguesa”, which is why Vicente's atelier boasts the royal arms of the house in Bragança.

He was a volunteer at the Company of Volunteer Firefighters of Funchal (currently Municipal Firefighters / “Sapadores do Funchal”), which was established on 09/24/1888. He enlisted on 16/02/1889 and made an honorable journey, having received in 1894, a praise from the “Humanitarian Association of Voluntary Firefighters”, for his actions in combating the fire that took place on April 9th ​​of that year, on Phelps Street. Two years later, he was appointed Interim Commander of that Corps, which he came to command definitively from 12/4/1900, a position which he later abandoned, due to the demands inherent to the management of Photographia Vicente. On 05/31/1917 he was appointed honorary commander of that company.

He was also passionate about music and was part of the “Fanfarra Funchalense” Philharmonic, which co-founded on 11/26/1878 and was active at least until 1887. He also integrated the “Orquestra Característica Madeirense”, a philharmonic band with traditional cordophones founded and directed by Agostinho Martins (1841-1909).

Credits: Museu de Fotografia da Madeira - Atelier Vicente's.