P.S. stands for Personal Shit.
Here is a collection of personal projects I’ve been doing through my whole life since the day I started writing - literally.
Stories brought by the currents - Histórias que as correntezas nos trazem
SYNOPSIS
“Stories brought by the Currents” is a photographic collection that seeks to share and highlight, through a personal perspective, the lives of members of riverside communities inhabiting the islands surrounding Belém, Pará, Brazil. Through this investigation, the project aims to reaffirm the existence of these people while shedding light on the ways of life shaped by a continuous coexistence with nature.
PROJECT STATEMENT
“Riverside dweller, in the Amazon, means much more than ‘someone who lives by a river.’ This human existence of the forest is an entire universe, a transmutation of people, a unique birth of a way of being, an explosion of creativity, a complex form of resistance. Yes, I am deeply passionate in my affections, which has never prevented me from perceiving or pointing out contradictions. On the contrary, love sharpens my senses.”
— Eliane Brum, Banzeiro Òkòtó, Chapter 13: People of the Forest.
This project emerged from a personal body of work carried out during two distinct moments over the past year. The first took place in July 2022, when I was invited to work as a camera operator on a documentary project by a colleague, titled This River Is My Street (currently in post-production), in Belém, Pará. Inspired by both the journey and the film’s premise, we sought to document not only the functioning of the city — its flow of time, its supply systems, and the points through which they operate — but also the people whose labor sustains this movement. More than documenting their roles in relation to the metropolis, however, there was a desire to understand their ways of life, beliefs, and interpretations of how the world works — characteristics shaped by a continuous relationship with nature. The result was the recognition of a people whose lives simultaneously mirror and differ from those of urban populations. Yet that understanding was still far from true comprehension. The second moment came in October 2022, when I was once again hired as a camera operator, this time to document an expedition to El Dorado Falls, the largest waterfall in Brazil, located deep within the Amazon rainforest. As we traveled upstream along the Rio Negro and crossed dense stretches of forest, the stories of the people I had encountered around Belém became increasingly vivid, particularly their contemporary relationships with the rivers and the significance these waterways hold in their lives. At the same time, I gained a broader perspective on nature in its purest, untouched form and on the true scale of its difference from urban environments.
From the sum of these two experiences, and from the knowledge and personal impact they generated, intensified by their intimate nature, came the desire to share these riverside narratives, addressing some of the key elements that define their existence:
The river, which dictates departures and returns, provides food and livelihood for families, and embodies a force of nature capable of both nurturing growth and unleashing destruction. It is flow, pathway, and transition. Yemanjá, Janaína, Aiocá, Maria — the feminine force that governs the waters and the people who inhabit them, shaping their destinies, in contrast to the Catholic God who rules over those of the mainland. The masculine land, the feminine water.
Stories of men who venture into the rivers or deep into the forest in search of survival and advancement. People whose destinies are largely determined from childhood by the realities of their environment. And stories of women, children, and elders, many of whom remain behind, contributing from within the home. Stories of those who open paths, whether with a rudder or a machete. The raw materials they gather, transformed partly into food and partly into currency. Narratives that rarely reach us — whether because of geographical distance, limited internet access, or because their voices are muffled by the surrounding forest and drowned out by the noise of rushing waters. And, ultimately, stories about the miracle of fish.
These perspectives did not emerge solely from lived experiences or from the personal growth they fostered. They are also the result of research conducted around all the material captured during these periods, especially the photographs themselves, which will be revisited to support and sustain the written narrative. Rather than simply telling stories, the project seeks to provoke and encourage viewers to discover them on their own. The intention is to create a more direct encounter — one less concerned with what I have to say and more focused on what the viewer comes to understand.
With this in mind, the ideal format for presenting this study is a photographic installation divided into three distinct sections: the first focuses on nature in its pure state — the Amazon untouched by human intervention; the second explores the intersection; of nature and humanity; the third centers on the city and the reasons for its distance from the realities represented in the other two sections.
Each section will consist of photographs related to its respective theme, using their contrasts and tensions to reinforce the central idea of the relationship between human beings and nature. The photographs will be arranged in a non-linear manner, disregarding conventional spatial boundaries. Presented in various sizes, they will collectively create the sensation of flow — a current carrying the viewer’s gaze from one image to another.
Beyond the themes themselves, the project is also defined by the medium used to capture the images: analog film. Its significance lies in the alternating use of black-and-white and color film. While color photography serves to emphasize the richness and vitality of the natural world, black-and-white imagery — which also speaks to the absence of color and life — represents these people: hidden, overlooked, and invisible. Yet this original meaning is deliberately subverted. The contrast between color and its absence ultimately draws attention to both forms of representation. The combination of color and black-and-white photographs within the human/ecosystem section, together with the decision to present the nature section exclusively in color and the civilization section exclusively in black and white, helps establish a visual boundary between these distinct realities. It is the use of a device that erases in order to bring something into view.
PHOTOS DISPOSAL
SYNOPSIS
“Stories brought by the Currents” is a photographic collection that seeks to share and highlight, through a personal perspective, the lives of members of riverside communities inhabiting the islands surrounding Belém, Pará, Brazil. Through this investigation, the project aims to reaffirm the existence of these people while shedding light on the ways of life shaped by a continuous coexistence with nature.
PROJECT STATEMENT
“Riverside dweller, in the Amazon, means much more than ‘someone who lives by a river.’ This human existence of the forest is an entire universe, a transmutation of people, a unique birth of a way of being, an explosion of creativity, a complex form of resistance. Yes, I am deeply passionate in my affections, which has never prevented me from perceiving or pointing out contradictions. On the contrary, love sharpens my senses.”
— Eliane Brum, Banzeiro Òkòtó, Chapter 13: People of the Forest.
This project emerged from a personal body of work carried out during two distinct moments over the past year. The first took place in July 2022, when I was invited to work as a camera operator on a documentary project by a colleague, titled This River Is My Street (currently in post-production), in Belém, Pará. Inspired by both the journey and the film’s premise, we sought to document not only the functioning of the city — its flow of time, its supply systems, and the points through which they operate — but also the people whose labor sustains this movement. More than documenting their roles in relation to the metropolis, however, there was a desire to understand their ways of life, beliefs, and interpretations of how the world works — characteristics shaped by a continuous relationship with nature. The result was the recognition of a people whose lives simultaneously mirror and differ from those of urban populations. Yet that understanding was still far from true comprehension. The second moment came in October 2022, when I was once again hired as a camera operator, this time to document an expedition to El Dorado Falls, the largest waterfall in Brazil, located deep within the Amazon rainforest. As we traveled upstream along the Rio Negro and crossed dense stretches of forest, the stories of the people I had encountered around Belém became increasingly vivid, particularly their contemporary relationships with the rivers and the significance these waterways hold in their lives. At the same time, I gained a broader perspective on nature in its purest, untouched form and on the true scale of its difference from urban environments.
From the sum of these two experiences, and from the knowledge and personal impact they generated, intensified by their intimate nature, came the desire to share these riverside narratives, addressing some of the key elements that define their existence:
The river, which dictates departures and returns, provides food and livelihood for families, and embodies a force of nature capable of both nurturing growth and unleashing destruction. It is flow, pathway, and transition. Yemanjá, Janaína, Aiocá, Maria — the feminine force that governs the waters and the people who inhabit them, shaping their destinies, in contrast to the Catholic God who rules over those of the mainland. The masculine land, the feminine water.
Stories of men who venture into the rivers or deep into the forest in search of survival and advancement. People whose destinies are largely determined from childhood by the realities of their environment. And stories of women, children, and elders, many of whom remain behind, contributing from within the home. Stories of those who open paths, whether with a rudder or a machete. The raw materials they gather, transformed partly into food and partly into currency. Narratives that rarely reach us — whether because of geographical distance, limited internet access, or because their voices are muffled by the surrounding forest and drowned out by the noise of rushing waters. And, ultimately, stories about the miracle of fish.
These perspectives did not emerge solely from lived experiences or from the personal growth they fostered. They are also the result of research conducted around all the material captured during these periods, especially the photographs themselves, which will be revisited to support and sustain the written narrative. Rather than simply telling stories, the project seeks to provoke and encourage viewers to discover them on their own. The intention is to create a more direct encounter — one less concerned with what I have to say and more focused on what the viewer comes to understand.
With this in mind, the ideal format for presenting this study is a photographic installation divided into three distinct sections: the first focuses on nature in its pure state — the Amazon untouched by human intervention; the second explores the intersection; of nature and humanity; the third centers on the city and the reasons for its distance from the realities represented in the other two sections.
Each section will consist of photographs related to its respective theme, using their contrasts and tensions to reinforce the central idea of the relationship between human beings and nature. The photographs will be arranged in a non-linear manner, disregarding conventional spatial boundaries. Presented in various sizes, they will collectively create the sensation of flow — a current carrying the viewer’s gaze from one image to another.
Beyond the themes themselves, the project is also defined by the medium used to capture the images: analog film. Its significance lies in the alternating use of black-and-white and color film. While color photography serves to emphasize the richness and vitality of the natural world, black-and-white imagery — which also speaks to the absence of color and life — represents these people: hidden, overlooked, and invisible. Yet this original meaning is deliberately subverted. The contrast between color and its absence ultimately draws attention to both forms of representation. The combination of color and black-and-white photographs within the human/ecosystem section, together with the decision to present the nature section exclusively in color and the civilization section exclusively in black and white, helps establish a visual boundary between these distinct realities. It is the use of a device that erases in order to bring something into view.
PHOTOS DISPOSAL
