In Salvador, where he lives and works, Vinicius Xavier builds a photography that is simultaneously priesthood, anthropological research, and political act. At 46 years old, the photographer – also an Ogan of Xangô at the Terreiro Ilê Axé Icimimó in Cachoeira-BA – has been developing since 2003 a visual discourse dedicated to the enchantment of Afro-Brazilian popular culture, driven by the urgency to leave a legacy of the “Brazil he dreamed of.” With a background in Communication and Anthropology, his work moves between international festivals and the daily devotion to the terreiros (houses of worship), creating a bridge between tradition and contemporaneity.
His essay “ECO EGUM“, a finalist in the Photo Essay category of the FotoDoc Photo Contest 2025, is a bold visual intervention on the open wounds of slavery. Using the Feira de São Joaquim – a predominantly Black popular market in Salvador – as a microcosm of Brazil, Xavier digitally inserts images of enslaved African people (photographed by Christiano Jr. in the 19th century) into the contemporary setting of the market. The result is a disturbing fabulation where past and present coexist: ancestors and descendants share the same space, questioning the notion of time and highlighting how the colonial enterprise still echoes in Brazilian society. More than a denunciation, the project is a ritual of visibility – a photographic summons for us to confront the unresolved historical issues that haunt our future.
Learn more about this visceral work and the projects that honor ancestry in the following interview.
