Can you tell us a bit about how you discovered photography and what your path has been?

I got into photography by accident. I always wanted to be a Director and when I moved to NY I wanted to go to college for filmmaking but couldn’t afford. So I cleaned houses for a bit, had a bunch of weird immigrant jobs and picked up a camera just to keep my eye sharp. I figured so many of my favorite directors started as photographers (Kubrick, Wim Wenders, Tarkovsky) that it seemed like a good way to just practice how to compose and frame a shot. After all, cinema is just 24 photos per second. I hope to find my way back into filmmaking, I am rather bored by photography these days.

Your photos are often extremely dynamic, capturing one motion or another, the breaking of glass, flames devouring a newspaper, a dance circle, etc. What does movement have to do with your images?

I am a big fan of Akira Kurosawa and I learned a lot about composing movement from watching his movies. I think you can add a lot of narrative by incorporating movement to an image. And [this] is something that I love doing because even though photography is meant to be STILL, our brains are capable of reading certain aspects as movement, such as the wind blowing, rain falling, fire burning, nature is such a great way to add complex feelings to a narrative. There is so much poetry in movement. I always try and think: “What would Kurosawa do?”

Similarly, when I first saw your images, I was captivated by the manipulation you often used. Although you are a photographer, sometimes your work feels very visceral and multidimensional. Can you explain your process of working with images and your style?

I think I have been more attracted to fine art these days, Fluxus and all of those guys. And how you can give an image a whole new dimension once it becomes a printed object. It’s just been an exercise on curiosity. I don’t think I have much of a style or a process, I just follow a flow of attraction and try to make a living out of it. If something calls me, I have to follow along and see where it takes me.

I read that your favorite place in the world is the darkroom. What draws you there, and do you continue to print all of your own images?

I really love working with analog materials. I love getting my hands dirty, the smell of chemicals, I think all of that adds something really intimate to the images. When people see the final product, I hope they know that every photo has gone through my hands several times during the process of making it.

You moved to NYC from Brazil in your early 20’s. What do you wish you knew at the time, and what advice do you have to other young photographers hoping to pursue similar creative careers?

I wish I had made less excuses as to why I couldn’t do things and just found creative ways around it. I am much better at that now that I am older. But when I was young, all these crazy ideas I would have, I had a hard time following through because I didn’t have money, or time, or whatever excuse I made to myself. When in reality you just have to find ways to bring your ideas to life within the means you have. So my advice would be, stop making excuses and start creating your own paths. You don’t have to follow anyone[’s] footsteps. It’s totally fine to be lost early in your career, but good art comes from living a life with the most varied experiences so you have something to draw inspiration from. So go live and put yourself out there. Go try new shit, go fail. Most breakthroughs only happen after you fail epically and discover the ability to pick yourself back up and try things over and over again. And do your research. Read some fucking books!