Ethiopia, Kaffa, 2015. Woman picking wild coffee.

Working for NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) in Ethiopia last year, the assignment was to document the local communities who live with and off the local cloud forest in Kaffa, a region in the Southwest of the country.

The region is best known for its wild coffee forests and is believed to be the birthplace of coffee. In one of the coffee forests is an old coffee tree, said to be the Mother of Coffee. And while the forest is protected and kept alive, the coffee bushes grow wildly in the extensive forest and the local population enter the forest in small groups to harvest the coffee as needed for home consumption or to sell at the closest local market.

My journey to study the coffee harvest had started at the beginning of the year in Costa Rica and now, towards the end of the year, I found myself across the ocean, in a very different reality, looking at the same subject from a very different angle.

If you would like to see more photos about Ethiopia's Wild Coffee, please click here.

If you like to learn more about the Coffee Harvest in Costa Rica, please click here.

My portrait of Pawanã Crody Kariri Xocó will be on show in Japan from 13–28 February 2016 at The Reminders Photography Stronghold Gallery in Tokyo as part of the Portrait Saloon Tokyo. The portrait was created during our meeting in Brazil in 2016 and it shows a different aspect of my work, a visual interpretation that challenges the boundary between photography and art prints.

The exhibition runs from Sat 13 Feb – Sun 22 Nov 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Opening is on Saturday 13 February 2016 at 4pm

Venue: The Reminders Photography Stronghold Gallery Tokyo

For details, please check here

Coffee Harvest is back in Ealing!

A selection from my photo documentary project about the coffee harvest in Costa Rica will be showing at Harris & Hoole in Ealing.

Beginning of 2015 I immersed myself for several weeks in the activities of the coffee harvest in Costa Rica to learn all about the people, the plant and the environment that produce one of the most celebrated coffee beans.

Address: Harris & Hoole, 12 The Broadway, London, Ealing W5 2NH
Nearest tube: Ealing Broadway

Opening hours: Mon – Sat 07am–6.30pm; Sun 9.30am–5pm
The exhibition will be ongoing.

Ethiopia, 2015. Harvest time in North Ethiopia

Just got back into London after spending four weeks working and travelling in Ethiopia. My projects led me from North to South and in many areas my visit coincided with the harvesting time.

Brazil, Minas Gerais 2015. Family farming.

Silvio is a small-scale farmer in Limeira, Minas Gerais. On his little plot of land he plants herbs, greens and vegetables which he sells to local customers. Apart from being very charming, his produce is organic and delicious - yes I tested it. He is slowly expanding his little business and as his reputation builds can live off the sales of his produce.

Brazil, Minas Gerais, 2016. Transatlantic Rainforest.

While photographing the Iracambi project I had many opportunities to visit the rainforest and could spend time in and around the forest to notice its wonders. The transatlantic rainforest once grew all along the Brazilian coast and formed a kind of green belt that drew water from the clouds as they arrived from the sea and provided much needed drinking water for the Brazilian hinterlands. As the rainforest slowly disappears from the Brazilian map, droughts are becoming more common.

My portrait of Pawanã Crody Kariri Xocó will be on show from 19 November as part of Portrait Salloon at the Embassy Tea Gallery. This portrait was created during our meeting earlier this year in Brazil. In this exhibition I show a different aspect of my work, a visual interpretation that challenges the boundary between photography and art prints.

The exhibition runs from Fri 20 Nov – Sun 22 Nov 2015

Opening night is on Thursday 19 Nov 2015 at 6.30pm

Venue: The Embassy Tea Gallery
195-205 Union Street, London SE1 0LN
Nearest tube: Southwark and Borough

I hope you enjoy the exhibitions.

Coffee Harvest is coming to Queensway

Café com Arte will be showing a selection of my photos from my photo documentary project Coffee Harvest until the end of this year.

Beginning of the year I immersed myself for several weeks in the activities of the coffee harvest in Costa Rica to learn all about the people, the plant and environment that produce one of the most celebrated coffee beans.

Café com Arte is hosted by Casa Brasil
Address: Queens Way Market, 23–25 Queensway, London W2 4QJ
Nearest tube: Queensway and Bayswater

Opening hours: 11am – 8pm
The exhibition will be on display from Sat 14 Nov until the end of the year.

Please come and join me on the Opening Night, 13 Nov 2015 from 6.30pm

I look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, 2015. Fighting herons.

While working on a project with fishermen in Brazil, water birds became a common sight as they sit around the edges waiting for a bite while the fishermen clean out their catch. It seemed though that the Herons were quite territorial and rarely would tolerate another of their kind close by. When two met it would not be long before a fight would break out. This is a little sequence of the Heron's quarrel over territory and fish.

From Tuesday 20 October 2015 a selection of photos from my project Coffee Harvest in Costa Rica will be exhibited at Artisan. The presented photos are part of my ongoing project to photographically research and document traditional work processes in Latin America. For the photo documentary project Coffee Harvest in Costa Rica I spend Christmas and the beginning of 2015 on coffee plantations in Costa Rica, where I followed the rhythm of the coffee harvest and the day-to-day routines of the workers. In my work I focus on photographing what I have come to call “invisible” culture, i.e. day-to-day aspects of the local culture and life that are simple routines which no longer attract much attention.

The exhibition runs from Tue 20 Oct–19 Nov 2015 @ Artisan in Ealing, 32 New Broadway, Ealing, London W5 2XA

Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30am-5:30pm, Sat  8:30am-5:30pm, Sun  9:00am-5:30pm

We had met the previous day on Iracambi where I was staying for the week to document their reforestation project. He was a worker on the farm. Today was Sunday and his day off and he was cleaning the front of his house. I was passing by after a good hike in the forest and stopped for a chat.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, 2015. Mico monkey baby.

The little Micos, or common marmosets, can be found in bigger and smaller groups all around the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) and Urca. And I find it hard to resist taking a few photos. As they are regularly fed by visitors, they are quite used to humans and have become rather tame. And they have grown strong in numbers. These days I am back in town for a few weeks and look forward to adding a few more pictures to my collection.

Playing in the streets of City of God, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazil, Cidade de Deus, 2015. Children's play.

While visiting the City of God, a chanty town near Rio de Janeiro, I met these charming girls. One of the girls had been given a puppy as a present from her dad and they were happily playing in the streets. I enjoyed watching the innocence of their play and, remembering where I was and how much violence this community had survived, I realized they were showing me what peace looks like.