Hi there, are you lost? Me too. Don’t worry! Have a cup of tea, chill out; enjoy the music (it’s supposed to start playing any time soon). Meanwhile, you are welcome to read my rambling, look at my pictures, and explore my travels through my eyes. Enjoy your stay!
Until about a year ago, Photography to me was what I saw in magazines. Photographers only shot ads, and pictures in my head were sharp, colorful, detailed. My knowledged didn't go very far about this subject.
Then I learned about Nan Goldin. And, hey, wait a minute, why is everything so blurred? Why are people and things dramatically changed from what they look like in real life? Isn’t photography a mere mirror of our lives?
No, Photography doesn’t have to emulate reality. I mean, even the images we capture with our own eyes are flipped in our brains. So why is it that people insist that the images they capture with their cameras be the same as what they see in their heads?
These are just some fun and free shots. The first is a self portrait of me spinning with an open shutter in front of a mirror. The others are pictures from an old relationship. I had deleted all these originally, but yesterday I found them in my recycle bin, and since I am over my past now, I thought, why not?
segunda-feira, 9 de maio de 2011
I just felt like you people should listen to some music. Here it goes:
And maybe my favorite video on Youtube:
Another one from Cibelle:
I know this chick can sound a little bit "hipstery", but I think she is pretty creative and genuine. A true Brazilian raised in Europe. Give her a shot, and if you hate it, you can sock me, or haunt me in my dreams. Your choice. Good night.
There are men who preach, and say that they hold the truth, and the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in their hands.
But the way I see it, they are all lying.
And I’m not quite sure if they understand they are lying, or if they are lying to themselves, and in this circle of lies they just sink into even more lies.
But I know that the lies have to stop.
Let’s step back for a second and think of the possibilities that maybe Jesus was not resurrected from the cross.
That maybe he was just some crazy groovy dude, with a lot of crazy groovy ideas in his head, and some Romans, and some Jews, did not like what he had to share, so in the midst of their lies, they decide to kill the dude. Put him in a cross and make him suffer and what not.
I don’t think he died for my sins, or that he somehow came back as a weird Zombie dude proclaiming that the apocalypse would come if people didn’t follow his words. His exact, exact words.
Yes, I think we should, like Jesus, be more humble, and respect each other, and our elders, and live off the land without trying to make life so much about money, and more about love.
I don’t see anything wrong with that. It’s the whole lying thing that gets me off.
I mean, who started the lying in the first place? Who decided to make Jesus a saint, or a Zombie, or the Devil, or Almighty and all that jazz?
Who decided that he was perfect, better than all of us, and worthy of a place as the son of God?
And who the hell is God anyways? Ok, maybe that’s a question for a different day.
My concern right now is asking, who made religion such a bad thing? Who did not respect the principle that loving each other is the way to enlightenment, and decided that hate, money, lying and sacrifice, not necessarily in that order, makes the world go round?
I am sure the person who invented this system did not die in a cross, with people behind them throwing rocks and yelling crazy things like “you’re a Jew and you should burn in hell” and blah blah blah.
I am sure the person who invented this system did not believe in God, or magic, or nature, or whatever you want to call it, and they were so mean that they decided that lying was the only way that men could reach freedom, or maybe a fake freedom, so let’s just fuck everything up and make everybody work for a load of hours, and not that much money, so that few people can be on the top, while those in the bottom don’t have the chance, or the ability, to see the light.
(I want to see the light!)
Let’s take all the knowledge away from men, because we know that knowledge leads to knowing, and knowing is bad, because those who know don’t want to deal with this bullshit we call society.
Let’s pretend that the way to happiness is work work work, and no play, no laughter, no love.
I mean, listen to yourself, does that even make any sense?
Does work make you happy? Or does dance? Music? Self Expression? Love? Kisses? Hugs from a far away friend?
What makes you happy? What sets you off? What makes you sing? Is it knowing that a guy named Jesus died in a cross, and supposedly came back to life ages ago?
Or is it life itself? And maybe the friends you make along the way? Maybe Jesus has nothing to do with it. It’s just the message, the loving.
Break out from the rituals, the ceremonies, the ideas that society has put in your head as right or wrong.
The people that put those ideas in your head are the same ones that go to war and spend our education money on missiles and bombs, instead of professors and books.
Find the truth within yourself, enlightenment within you.
Because you and only you know what’s best for you.
There has to be no Jesus, no Pope, no Buddha, no Muhammed, nobody that can tell you what’s right.
When you let life take its course, and let your instincts rule your path, there is no need for lying to others, or yourself.
Just be you, and all will resolve itself.
"A minha alma esta armada e apontada para a cara do sossego".
Pictures from Brazil, January 2011. Taken with a Canon AT-1 using Fujichrome film, and cross processed at a lab. The film itself was then put into a scanner, against a lit up blank screen from an iPod. After scanning, I inverse the colors using Photoshop and play around to see what I get. Sounds complicated, but it’s actually pretty simple and a lot of fun! Check it out, or do it yourself:
Some days I feel just like Caetano taking his first steps down Avenida Sao Joao. I hate it here. Maybe it's because "Narcissus thinks it's ugly that which is not a mirror?"
Who knows...I miss my home.
Los Angeles is hostile.
Los Angeles is aggresive Los Angeles eats you up And spits you out In a matter of seconds,
Los Angeles is chaotic With empty people in it Empty shells Navigating emptier freeways And emptier personal hells,
The sidewalks are filled with Emptier souls.
Los Angeles is grey And dark And damp Filled with meaningless Meaningless conversations,
Los Angeles is beautiful Scary Is hollow. Los Angeles is a shadow of a city That I might never become.
I have his spirit, That fled from Petropolis down to the city, and the buildings of Rio de Janeiro, And now I possess his soul.
Giving up scribbled down words to a vast and tropical world Trying not to die from the heat of a summer in Rio. While the sun hits harshly on my pale white skin I hide in shadows Scared of the genes that Zweig has left me with.
I might deny it. But I am a Polaca Mixed in with Italians, Blacks And vira-latas.
Tan solo fechas. They were only dates. But if I had lived in a different decade My story would have been warped.
If I had lived in a different decade I would have died in the streets of Petropolis I would have yelled to the whole world my origins I would have wore it proudly on my skin I would have said it loud and clear That I am a survivor That I am a warrior Zweig died for me Zweig yelled for my freedom Zweig has left me to practice my sins Zweig is my savior And so far all I’ve done is denying my historia.
