Focus on Brazil: Beyond photography, an Interview with Pedro Silveira

Tell us more about yourself. Where are you from? How did you get into photography? Can you tell us more about your photography career until now?

I’m a Brazilian photographer and, as the major part of photographers, I was born in a middle class family. But my parents had the great idea on bringing me to grow up in a small city on the countryside, living in peripheral areas and studying on public schools with all kind of folks. That’s my very first reference; to break class barriers between people.

I just discovered Photography at the University, which was kind of changing moment for me. At this point I was moving to a bigger city to study, see other things, make another relationships and find my way under graduation.

I didn’t studied Photography formally, my graduation was more focused on graduating text journalists, but I decided to explore the Labs at the University (including B&W PhotoLab and a NewsPaper Lab) in which photography was a main piece. So I decided to dedicate my entire course to learn about photography in parallel with the media field, and try to establish connections between subjects of my interest.

At the end I attended a TV internship, but I also realized that a photojournalist position was the only work position which could allow me to view the contrasts I was claiming to see. So, after the Social Communications graduation, I spent four years working as a photojournalist staff member on daily newspapers. Those years allowed me to know other borders, and also to perceive how the real world is perverse, from the luxury to the waste of a human being.

At some point, I started to see what had been published was not my own view about ever assignment taken over years. I had a sort of great conflicts with my editor at those times, but he was just a little piece inside that apparatus (or industry), like me. Then became clear that I was being paid to see, but not to say. Inside this information gear, I was that kind of frontline that goes and shoot, but being paid just to see what other one(s) wants to say, or sell any idea.

In 2010 I quit the job and became a fulltime freelancer, getting more time to think about whatever I wanted, and started to bet some chips. I really wanted more control on that passionate way to work, and this would be possible just having the freedom to create and the whole edition process on my hands too. I mean, I was taking the big challenge to find my issues, my photography and myself. I was looking for authorships and to follow this would be necessary to figure out my own questions, and study them.

At this point I joined in a Visual Arts post-graduation program, which was pretty important for me. And to not be a student just at classes I decided to start my very first personal project called Ephemerides of the Genesis. The most important thing is that project was planned to go side by side with the academic course. It was clear, I wanted to use the opportunity to recognize my references, rebuild my own view trying to unlearn what I had been learning, and also raising my questions into the project.

On this path I started to write about the project and other great doors opened. Amazing support opportunities started happen, like a grant to help fund, a fellowship sponsored by the Magnum Foundation to attend the Photography and Human Rights Program, and invites to show on Photo Festivals and photography publications abroad.

In 2014 you were one of the Magnum Foundation Human Rights Fellows. What are the importance and benefits of attending programs like these?

I think there are some chances that are lifetime opportunities, and I’m sure to attend the Magnum Photography and Human Rights Program was one of these rare occasions. It was one and a half month of challenging every day.

At first because of the teachers and the horizontal relationship established with them. Susan Meiselas, Fred Ritchin and Ed Kashi were kind of dream team, sharing their decades of experience on theory and practice in the field. Furthermore, they gave us all the creative freedom, while mentoring us to take risks.

The group of fellows was also amazing, bringing together great souls from Bosnia, China, Egypt, Iran, Syria and myself from Brazil. So, for me it was a pretty intense exchange of culture, experience and feelings. I’m really glad to have had the opportunity to share time with that group. At the classes we are 16 students, from 11 different countries, and it makes the discussions be so enriching.

For sure that was an amazing workspace opportunity, which went beyond all my expectations, where I found mentors concerned on understand my approach and ready to provoke me on moving forward. All that stuff remains knocking into my head.

Your project during the Human Rights Fellowship was about homelessness. Can you tell us more about the process on deciding on a theme for your project you did over six weeks in a new space. What are the challenges that you faced while producing the project?

Actually my project there was not just about homelessness, but also about consumption, and that was an issue I was trying to work here were I live. So, when I arrived (and it was my first time) in New York that burned my eyes. My first fright was to see how many people was living on the streets of a high consuming city, feeding their bodies and souls with the discards, out of the consumption chain.

Everyone who watch films about New York could know about the homeless, but not about that perverse relation between them and the excessive consumption practice on the city.

So, the most challenging thing for me was how to produce some work which was not repeat same impressions about the homelessness, but actually how the high consuming is creating aberrant society models, even in New York. And at the first days I decided to not use the image of persons, but the traces of their nomad lives looking for discarded things to keep alive.

In addition, I think only these academic opportunities remain offering freedom to do and to interpret what is going on.

Can you tell us more about the transition of your photographic style and approach from when you first started out up until now? 

Honestly, I guess we are always “in progress” and it is wonderful. I’m just going, or studying and trying to understand some of my issues accumulated over the years. After some time it has been clear for me that I’m not interested on any kind of delimitations, on the broadest sense of the word. I’m still in love with the freedom inhabiting inside any project.

Here it’s important to say that I didn’t desert the photojournalism, I mean the industry. I’m still earning life by editorial works and assignments. The main topic here is that when assigned it’s clear that I’m just translating someone’s voice to visual representations, but when working on my own projects it’s completely different, because I’m actually following my own voice and that’s the most amazing practice.

After several courses, years and crossed paths, everything changed inside me and not just my photography approach, or attitude. Photography is my way, my vehicle, my therapy, my drug and my excuse to meet another realities; not less than my road to exorcise my fears and try to send few messages to a less perverse future. It’s becoming clearer.

I heard other voices and I think we should be more concerned on the Image, in a broad sense. It’s time to provoke tension on the boundaries. More than ever, everything has been said by Image. Maybe we should be more concerned on the rearranged narratives, together with what really needs to be said, what’s hidden or has not been published. For me it’s time to see through diverse voices beyond photographs, or just to hear altered eyes.

How important is it to make use of audio and video and other elements together with stills photography when creating projects?

It’s all about adding more sensitive layers on the projects. I’m not an expert on this practice and I’m far away to be one. I think we are living right now an experimentation time. The resources are a little bit more accessible, and it is really great. But at the same time they need distinct uses and ways of capture. For me is pretty different to capture photos, videos and mostly audios. It’s kind of turning a key when capturing, and I’m just trying step by step.

Of course there is a need for more elaborate content coming from the industry. But I guess they are more concerned on how to produce more content with fewer professionals in the field, and we practitioners should be concerned on how to touch the audience with these new layers, or how to produce more thoughtful projects with those new resources on hand. We do not have to produce this just because it’s a trend. We need help and critical impressions from other fields on how to use these other elements on a right way. And I’m sure it’ll also take time to find a new way.

Why is it important to focus on personal projects and not only on assignments from magazines and newspapers? Why is ones own voice important in the projects you do?

As said before, I guess when someone is shooting an assignment it’s not following one’s own voice, but working guided by the need of who assigned the work. When you start pursuing personal projects it’s completely different, and pretty much more challenging. It means that’s you researching, planning, challenging and shooting to follow your own issues. That’s really hard to get the point; even it’s a simple explanation.

To be enrolled on a Visual Arts program was a great change on my professional life, maybe the biggest change was on the way I was shooting. It was there when I begun taking risks and started my very first long-term project in parallel. I decided to start by breaking my classic photojournalism approach from staff times, maybe trying to unlearn what I had been learning.

At this moment it was clear that I was looking for authorships and trying to understand what it really means. For me, to start focusing on personal projects means at the very first to know who am I, what are the issues that touch or provoke me. Every photographer needs to know himself deeply, and what is the personal relationship with what has been doing.

Nowadays I’m really tired to see “same” images everyday on social media and other venues, but when you find a body of work that you can hear a voice throughout the images its really amazing. Maybe that’s the most important point now. As photographers, in a world overdosed of the “same” images, maybe the biggest challenge now is how to build a voice through photographs.

For sure it’s not an easy task, it’s hard, it takes time, maybe the whole life, but at the end it’s all about authorship in a broad sense. Which also include the political autonomy that just independent projects allow us to do so.

What are you currently working on? Are you working on a project in your own country or on something abroad? Why is it important to produce work within your own country?

Yeap! I’m working here in Brazil on three different ongoing projects close to home. And I’m also spending some time writing purposes, looking for funds to pursue another step of a project I’ve been working for some years. Actually it would be another step of my very first project, and I would like to move some months (or maybe a year) for a different region in the country to do this.

I’m fascinated about the cultural mix that represents Brazil and the whole Latin America. And for me it’s really important to produce these kinds of works here, it’s kind of a voice from inside and not an outside view. I feel more confortable on doing this here, than I would if doing projects about other regions. It’s about my roots, our perverse and still unknown History, our beauty and all social implications that come together.

I have been following issues related to oppression, unheard histories and forgotten communities. Sometimes my photographic approach embraces a more symbolic way, and I can do it with more freedom when saying about my own History.

Any advice for emerging photographers that come from places where access to photography and information about photography is limited?

Oh…I’m not sure if I’m the right person to advice. I’m not an established photographer or someone collecting thousands of followers. I came from a place where the access to photography is also limited. For years I’ve been applying for a sort of things like Portfolio Reviews, Call for Entries and other educational opportunities. And I’m always researching on what have been doing abroad.

I’m still looking for mentoring because the most important things which happened for me on this photographic journey was to meet open-minded mentors, to be provoked by challenges to rethink my approach and to be touched by thoughtful critical sessions.

If you think that photography is your way…I would say KEEP GOING!! It’s challenging! At the end, I believe the way (or the go!) will be the most beautiful part on this photographic journey.