Queen's competition at the London School of Samba
This summer saw another amazing season of samba in London. The competition for the Queen of the Bateria for the London School of Samba was one such event which celebrated the passion for the Brazilian dance in London. The competing dancers showed amazing skills and great passion throughout the competition. This year's event was held at Floripa and the competition was fierce. It was another amazing show of samba and competence. In the end the judges and audience made their choice. For another year, London School of Samba has a new Queen of the Bateria.
Uppsala's historic marks
This selection is part of a photo project I did in Uppsala, Sweden, where I explored the city's long and significant history by looking at its architecture and building styles. Uppsala is located about 70 km from Stockholm and became home of the Archbishop of Sweden in 1164. In 1477 the Uppsala university was founded making Uppsala the oldest centre for academic education in the country. The city's historic moments were marked by significant building projects and varying building styles, giving the city a unique visual identity.
Exhibiting at the Sixth Greenwich Annuale
Dona Carninha is the descendent of Dona Zézinha and Dona Rosária who were slaves of Coronel Paulinho. I met Dona Carninha while researching the reality of Quilombos (communities of descendants of slaves) in the Northeast of Brazil. Being able to trace her ancestry back to the first slaves Coronel Paulinho brought to Fazenda Varzinha dos Paulinhos, his vast estate in the hinterlands of Pernambuco state, Dona Carninha had a very painful and powerful story to tell. And despite her blindness, Dona Carninha had a very clear vision of the world around her.
The exhibition opens 8-22 August 2013 at The Greenwich Gallery, Peyton Place, London SE10 8RS Mon–Fri 9am-5.30pm; Sat-Sun 12-4pm
Sugar cane harvest
Sugar cane harvest in Mata Sul, state of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil. Sugar cane dominates the landscape of the so-called Mata Norte and Mata Sul (North Forest and Sul Forest), areas which traditionally were overgrown by the Transatlantic Rainforest and, over the past centuries and decades, have become completely dominated by sugar cane plantations. Sugar cane production in the area has a long tradition of aggressive expansion and slave labour and to this day, echoes of its past influence the present. In the past years I have visited the area repeatedly to learn about the ecological and social impact of the sugar cane production and the relationship traditional local populations have with their job and the farms they work on.
Worker cutting the sugar cane stems.
The sugar cane fields after the harvest. Rainha da Bateria photo makes front pages
My photo from the London School of Samba's last year's Rainha da Bateria competition was published on the front page of the Brazilian Post and Vamos London.
Published by Floripa
Floripa, this year's venue for the London School of Samba's Queen competition, chose one of my photos to advertise this year's event on their website. The photo is one of the series I took during last year's competition and shows the newly crowned Rainha da Bateria 2012/2013. I have worked with the London School of Samba since 2006, documenting many of their rehearsals, performances and Queen competitions. Drought in the Northeast of Brazil
Although I visited Pernambuco before, this was my first visit to the Sertão, a region in the hinterlands of Northeastern Brazil which is renowned for its recurring droughts. The Sertão is a dry land with not many water reserves and if the annual rain does not come, those surviving of subsistence agriculture suffer the dire consequences. In preparation of my visit I heard that there was an ongoing drought but we only became aware of the full extend when we started to visit local families. We learned that the drought had been ongoing for two years and that it was entering its third year. Leaving the local population with not much alternatives, those who could had left for urban centers and jobs elsewhere. Those who stayed watched helplessly as animals and vegetation slowly died.
Venice
Currently working on a piece about Venice, the city where the streets are paved with water and the past informs the present. Exhibiting at the PM Gallery
Exhibiting at the PM Gallery In Small Adventures I explore a different way of interpreting photography, presenting an image that goes beyond 'taking a photo', and, within the presented visual reality, challenging the boundaries between photography and art. As a result the exhibited art blurs the line between the two disciplines, leaving the onlooker wondering if they are looking at a painting or a photograph.
The exhibition opens 17 May – 9 June, 2013, @ PM Gallery, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 5EQ
LSS Costume Launch
Working with the London School of Samba this Saturday at their annual launch of their carnival costumes for the Notting Hill Carnival. The event took place at the Guanabara night club, London.
IBISS - Working within the community
Visiting IBISS in April, my photographic research of the IBISS projects this time lead me visit Cidade dos Porcos, a neighbourhood next to Morro do Alemão in the Zona Norte of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. IBISS were building a football pitch, so the community would have their very own place where to train, compete, meet and let some steam of. Speaking to the locals around, everybody seemed very excited about the prospect to have a space for play, sports and recreation.
Published in fLIP
In March my story 'Meeting IBISS' and photos were published in the Spring Edition of fLIP, the Magazine for London Independent Photography. fLIP is published three times a year, distributed to all LIP members and sold in all majour Galleries.
Celebrating 8 May (International Women's Day) with the women of the MST
Pernambuco, Brazil. As part of the celebrations of the International Women's Day, March 8, the Landless Movement in Brazil (MST) organised several marches all over the country, many closing highways in different parts of the country. Near Recife some 400 women marched from Usina Maravilha to the city of Goiana to protest against the ongoing violence in rural areas and to voice their demand for land reform.
Dale Grimshaw - the making of a mural
Over the weekend I worked with the well-established London artist Dale Grimshaw. For two days, while Dale was creating his mural in Clifton Street London EC2A, I worked on a photographic research about his art and artistic working style.
Brazilian-style carnival in London
On February 1st, 2013, the London School of Samba echoed the Rio de Janeiro carnival with Brazilian style show at the Guanabara night club, London WC2B. This is the seventh year I have been working with the London School of Samba transforming dance into photographic art. |
