Priscila Ribeiro: After the rain, the resilience that is reborn from the waters

Photographer Priscila Ribeiro creates a body of work that transforms the lens into an instrument of welcome, denunciation, and visibility for stories that have been rendered invisible. Working across different regions of Brazil, she develops a photographic practice deeply committed to social and environmental justice, where the camera functions as a space for listening and connecting with marginalized realities. Her trajectory, which began in 2017 with family photographs, took on a transformative dimension in 2021 during a project at the former landfill of Cuiabá, where she closely observed the daily lives of waste pickers and discovered in photography a powerful tool to give voice to those who normally remain outside the public gaze.

Her essay “After the Rain“, a finalist in the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025, is an intimate testimony to the resilience of the people of Rio Grande do Sul in the face of the largest flood in the history of the state. Developed from a personal experience – Priscila was traveling with her family to Porto Alegre precisely when the devastating rains began in May 2024 – the work represents a conscious return one year later to understand how communities were rebuilding their lives. Traveling through cities such as Roca Sales, Cruzeiro do Sul, Arroio do Meio, and the state capital, she recorded not only the material traces left by the waters but, most importantly, the emotional scars and the silent gestures of resistance that emerge from loss. More than documenting destruction, the proposal was to reveal the “invisible strength” that sustains those who reinvent daily life and reaffirm their humanity even in the face of pain, connecting deeply with her belief in photography as a space for encountering vulnerability and the human capacity for rebuilding.

Learn more about this journey of active listening and the projects mapping the impacts of mining and struggles for housing in the following interview.

Imagem do Ensaio Depois da Chuva. de Priscila Ribeiro, finalista no Prêmio Portfólio FotoDoc 2025.

How old are you? Where do you currently live and work?

I am 42 years old and I currently live in Curitiba, but my work expands across different regions of Brazil.

Tell us about your journey in photography. When did you start photographing and why? What role does photography play in your life?

My journey in photography began in 2017, photographing families. But it was in 2021, during a project carried out at the former landfill of Cuiabá, when I closely followed the daily lives of the waste pickers, that photography took on a much greater dimension in my life. From that moment on, it became a tool for denunciation, listening, and visibility for stories that are often invisible, allowing me to give voice and attention to those who normally remain outside the public gaze. Since then, photography has played a central role in my life. It is my means of expression, my space for listening, and also a tool for connecting with other people and realities.

Tell us about your finalist work for the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025. When and where was it created? What is its concept? How does it fit into your photographic practice?

My connection with Rio Grande do Sul intensified in May 2024, when I was traveling with my family to Porto Alegre, precisely during the period when the historic flood hit the state. Being there, at that moment, allowed me not only to witness the devastating effect of the waters but also to meet people, hear their stories, and feel the dimension of that tragedy very closely.

The finalist essay “After the Rain” was born from this personal experience and the need to return to the state one year later, to understand how these people were rebuilding their lives in the face of devastation. I traveled through cities like Roca Sales, Cruzeiro do Sul, Arroio do Meio, and Porto Alegre, recording not only the traces left by the water but also the emotional scars and the gestures of resistance that emerge amidst loss. My proposal was to look beyond the material destruction, revealing the invisible strength that sustains those who, even in the face of pain, reinvent daily life and reaffirm their humanity.

This work connects deeply with my trajectory because I believe that photography is precisely this space for encountering vulnerability, resilience, and the human capacity for rebuilding in the face of adversity.

What projects are you currently working on? What are your near-future plans for photographic production?

I am currently dedicated to documentary projects about bodies and territories impacted by lithium and rare earth mining in Brazil, exploring not only the socio-environmental effects of this activity but also the risk of cultural erasure that threatens traditional ways of life.

Simultaneously, I continue to develop a project linked to the struggle for housing in Brazil, especially in urban occupations, where families in situations of housing vulnerability build with their own hands the territories where they can live with dignity. In the future, I want to consolidate these narratives and transform them into exhibitions and publications that broaden the public dialogue on social and environmental justice. Furthermore, I wish to expand my gaze to other projects that engage with the urgencies of our time. My purpose is for my photography to go beyond mere recording and to be seen as a gesture of welcome, visibility, and resistance.