Rafael Rosa: The decisive moment of sport

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

My name is Rafael Figueiredo Rosa, I am 43 years old. I am a Prosecutor for the Public Transport and Circulation Company of Porto Alegre and a photojournalist, currently collaborating with the Enquadrar Agency, based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. I am also a member of the Fotoclube Porto-Alegrense, an important institution that brings together both professionals and photography lovers to foster the love for this art, in addition to providing a space to disseminate knowledge and for valuable exchange of experiences.

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

Photography has been present in my life since my childhood; it has always been an area that sparked my interest. I liked to play with my parents’ camera, back in the days of photographic film, development, and photo albums. From that time, I have no memories of camera models, types of lenses, or films, but I preserved within me the most important, the essential thing: the encouragement to use the camera, the importance of being able to record memories, even in a completely amateur way, as they were a unique way to tell and preserve our own stories.

In the early 2000s, I had my first contact with digital photography and soon migrated from film to mini-CDs, which were later replaced by my first Fuji, a super-zoom that offered me, for the first time, full control over image creation. It was like opening a door to new possibilities and understanding photography not just as a record, but as a language.

In 2017, I began to improve my skills in the language and techniques of photography, starting my training in the field at the Escola de Fotografia Câmera Viajante in Porto Alegre. That same year, I migrated to the mirrorless system, also in the Fuji line, a system I still use professionally today.

Going through these technological transitions and seeking technical improvement in the classroom taught me to value both the aesthetic power of the instant and the narrative force of each scene.

As a result of this evolution, in 2019 I was one of the finalists of the Sioma Breitmann Photography Award, organized by the Porto Alegre City Council, participating in my first collective exhibition, which encouraged me to broaden my horizons and led me to take the Professional Photographer Course at the Escola Câmera Viajante. There, I could have greater contact with diverse areas of photography – and photojournalism, which always attracted me, definitely caught my interest. So much so that since then, I have sought to develop work and improve my technical knowledge with a special focus on this discipline of photography.

Joining the Fotoclube Porto-Alegrense in 2019 was a major turning point – the frequent and personal contact with other photographers, both professionals and amateurs, served as a rich source of knowledge and exchange of experiences – and it also led me to participate in various photography contests, achieving some international distinctions (Bronze in China in 2022, and Silver in Bulgaria in 2023).

More recently, I participated in the coverage of the climate events that hit Rio Grande do Sul in 2024, with a special focus on the shelters and the welcoming work of the Cozinhas Solidárias do MTST (MTST Solidarity Kitchens). These works were circulated in national and international media and occupied symbolic spaces in Porto Alegre affected by the floods of 1941 and 2024, such as the Mercado Público and, more recently, the Praça da Alfândega, as part of the Memorial das Águas (Water Memorial) Project.

Thus, I can affirm that photography, especially photojournalism, is the language through which I interpret the world: sometimes capturing the intensity of a maneuver or a decisive play in sports, other times revealing the impact and human feelings of tragedies. For me, it is memory and resistance, technique and sensitivity, mirror and poetry — a valuable instrument for understanding and sharing the spirit of our time.

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 work, titled “Gravity Suspended”, was carried out on March 23, 2025, during the final of the Skate Park category of the STU PRO Tour Porto Alegre, the first stage in the history of this new international circuit for the discipline. The image is the result of the gaze I have been developing at the skate parks over the years, always paying attention to the points where athletes seek the peak of their maneuvers and positioning myself strategically to be ready when the decisive moment presents itself.

More than a casual record or a mere product of chance, this photograph already existed in my mind even before the shot: I knew that from that point, an aerial maneuver of high technical degree could emerge, capable of condensing the essence of skateboarding. I didn’t know who the athlete would be or at which moment of the competition it would occur, but I was fully aware that there was a chance to capture the athlete hovering over the concrete with the lightness of someone who defies the rigidity of the city, in a gesture that borders on flight. The image captures not only the suspended body but also the symbolic power of a sport born in the streets: freedom, resistance, and creation in mid-air. And it is in the heat of competition that the moment is eternalized, exactly at the point where the ramps end and dreams begin – and the protagonist of the maneuver, Gui Khury, was the stage champion and, if memory serves me right, achieved his highest score precisely in the run where the image was captured.

This work translates exactly what I seek in my photographic production, whether on the tracks, on the fields, or even when capturing everyday events: the meeting between technique and emotion, the capture of the instant when sport or life reveals its poetry and gestures transform into narratives – it is in this instant, where time seems to bend to the maneuvers of life, that the ephemeral can become eternal.

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

I am currently developing a personal project linked to the skateboarding universe, with a special focus on para-skate athletes, whose strength and overcoming inspire me to seek images that translate not only technique but also the resilience and poetry of this sport. In parallel, I have started a series that investigates the impact of cell phones and social networks on how the audience experiences concerts and shows, reflecting on how the mediation of the screen transforms—and sometimes limits—the collective experience.

For the coming years, my desire is to expand this gaze beyond local tracks and arenas. If I have the opportunity to be present at the Parapan American Games in Lima in 2027, or the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028, I intend to develop a broader work on Paralympic sports, which offers images of unique intensity. Even though para-skate is not yet part of the official program of these events, I believe the spirit of overcoming present in all disciplines is an inexhaustible source of visual narratives, where technique, emotion, and humanity meet in their purest form.