Gustavo Minas | Sao Paulo
Photo: courtesy of the artist
Gustavo Minas
Brazil born 1981
Megacities, Level 3
NGV International
View on map
STATEMENT
‘My experience in São Paulo was fundamental in my training because it taught me that I did not depend on traveling to a distant and exotic place to photograph. On the contrary, I realised that my production is more centred and a little deeper when I work with an immediate reality, which is familiar to me. Another lesson from these years walking through São Paulo is that on most days the experiences that the city provides are more rewarding or important than the photos themselves. For a street photographer, who works to produce hundreds of photos until he arrives at one that remains, knowing this is key. I’ve learned to ask questions all the time as I move around the city. What’s on the street behind that? What happens behind that wall? How do people occupy the streets of a certain neighbourhood? How do people get from A to B? And that’s something that guides me to this day, in whatever city I pass through.’
ABOUT
Brazilian Gustavo Minas has studied journalism, language and the history of photography. Since 2009, he has photographed the daily life of the cities where he lives. In 2017, his work was awarded several photography prizes and was exhibited at the Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo. His first book Maximum Shadow Minimal Light was released in 2019 with a solo exhibition at Freelens Galerie, Hamburg. In 2021, his work was included in Common Life Utopias at Brazil’s pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice. He currently works as a journalist and freelance photographer in São Paulo and is a member of Burn My Eye collective.
Sound & music by Felinto.
The NGV warmly thanks the Orloff Family Charitable Trust, and Barry Janes and Paul Cross for their support.