How old are you? Where do you currently live and work?
I am 29 years old. I am from João Pinheiro, in the interior of Minas Gerais. Since 2012, I have lived in Belo Horizonte, where I work as a photographer and camera assistant.
Tell us about your journey in photography. When did you start photographing and why? What role does photography play in your life?
My journey with photography is linked to my grandfather, who was a photographer when he was young and was the one who gave me my first camera, a Yashica MG-1, which had been his. It was with this analog camera that I took the photo chosen as a finalist for the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025.
My interest in photography became even stronger when, in 2014, I started the Architecture and Urbanism course at UFMG. At that time, I took my first Photography course, bought my first digital camera, and started photographing. From then on, there were several courses, workshops, and studies that later led to the choice to pursue Photography as a profession as well.
For me, photography is about encounter. With it, I reach places I might not otherwise go, I get closer to people, I talk, I learn stories. I feel in good company when I go out alone with my camera, open to chance, to encounters, to a chat with a new acquaintance.
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?
The photo chosen as a finalist for the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025 was taken in 2018 in the village of Andrequicé, in the municipality of Presidente Olegário, Minas Gerais. It is part of a documentary photographic series I have been working on since 2017 in the village of Andrequicé, during the festival of Nossa Senhora da Abadia.
Andrequicé was founded in 1880 by my great-great-grandfather, João Rodrigues Braga, who was a devotee of Nossa Senhora da Abadia and built a chapel there in honor of the saint. This started a Pilgrimage in the region every August 15th (day of Nossa Senhora da Abadia), where pilgrims go to the village to give thanks and pray, often using ox carts to reach the place. The festival grew, and this tradition is now over 130 years old. Beyond its religious origin, the moment is also one of encounter among families, with lots of forró music, river bathing, and stalls selling everything you can imagine. There is also the tradition of making giant bonfires in the square in front of the church, about 40 meters tall, which are burned throughout the days of the festival.
This work fits into my photographic production, which has an interest in the documentary, traditional festivals, and people. I have been going to the festival since I was a child, and at a certain point, when I was already photographing, it awakened a different gaze in me, towards its vivid colors, shadows, and textures. I then began, in the years I was able to be present, to record a bit of this movement that for one week transforms a quiet place on the banks of a stream into a festival full of people from all over the region.
What projects are you currently working on? What are your near-future plans for photographic production?
I currently work mainly as a camera assistant in advertising and cinema (series, feature films, etc.). I also develop work where I conduct Photography and Cinema Workshops with children and young people, having already participated in several experiences in this sense, some of which resulted in the production of a documentary short film entirely made by the students.
One of my biggest plans regarding my photographic production is to develop a more consistent documentary project about the Andrequicé Festival. Beyond all the affective memory I have with the place, Brazilian traditional festivals interest me greatly. I greatly admire the photographer from Pará, Luiz Braga, as a major reference.
