I am not here to tell anyone what art should or
should not be, but I guess I am free to take my own conclusions about one of
the greatest things human race ever created. If I was asked what the meaning of
art is, I’d say it’s… to see beauty. Where there is, where there is not. And
the most fascinating thing is that you don’t need to go far to see beauty. It
is everywhere, in every corner. All you’ve got to do is unblock your trained
eyes – trained to see plain, cliché and boring images on television or on the internet.
When you allow yourself to see what’s around you, you just get amazed by every
little detail. The moon suddenly becomes a bright goddess, the city lights
become tiny shiny littly stars, that awkward bowtie becomes… cool.
But I think
the worst part is that nowadays, even beautiful details are so underestimated,
you know? People take pictures to post on their instagram every minute but they
don’t really stop to pay attention to the marvelous thing they just got the
chance to see. A cloudy sky is just a way to get more followers, those awesome
buildings are just numbers on your likes…
stop. and. see.
Who cares if you’re standing in
the middle of the street being awkward? Who cares if you’re staring at a group
of nice people (ok, that may be weird bUT IF IT PLEASES YOU)? Who cares if
there’s absolutely nothing special or
new about the places you pass by every day? Look at them, there’s always
something original.
And since
we’re in this field, I’ll tell a story. One day (one night) I was standing in
the sidewalk looking at the moon for some good two minutes and when I turned
away, a very cute guy was beside me looking at me. He couldn’t speak my language but he smiled shyly and looked at
the moon and then at me again. When he left a few moments later, he told me the
most tortuous and sincere “obrigado” I have ever heard. It was touching.
Well, I live in a very poor
village, community, shantytown, favela, slum
– call it whatever you want. I grew up in here, I know how things work. I know
I won’t be robbed, I know who the dealers are, I know they don’t mess with
people inside and from inside because they don’t want the police coming down
here, I know what’s that particular smell on the air… Nothing really frightens
me here.
And because of that feeling of being home I always saw this place with the
best eyes, always loved how people in here behave, how they talk, how they
interact with the place they are. And I must say: I love the orange lights, typical of
favelas. I love how they make this place look like a horror movie, bathing
everything with orange juice, painting the water puddles... And when you look at
them from above, they seem like several suns in the night sky.
One day, I
was looking at all of this from the bus and thought how nice it would be to
just take pictures of everything, every people, every situation, every place I
find. I was so filled with the feeling of
I-finally-found-something-to-take-pictures-of that I arrived home and instantly
called my cousin to join me in this adventure – well yes, even though I trust people
in here, I won’t ever go out alone with my camera.
This was my first time taking
pictures in a more… professional (?) way. I have the conscious I have so much to improve, a lot to learn, match
better the aperture and shutter speed and other chances to train, but everyone
got to start from some point, right? You’ve been seeing the results along this
post and here is the rest. 16 saved from 110. :p
It was an
amazing first experience and I hope to repeat it, definitely going to post it
here too. And one last pic with a special filter because my house is in it. :pp Oh and btw, this is in São Paulo.
Smell on you,
Victória~
