Looking for the bigger picture, Interview with SelvaSP Collective

Photo by Gustavo Minas

(Editor’s note: All photos are the respected copyright of the members of SelvaSP)

Take a look at this interview of SelvaSP. They are a street photography collective hailing out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. We explore how this collective is being run, what it is they look for, and how they approach the art of street photography.

How did SelvaSP first come to life? What were the inspirations and ideas for the group?

The idea behind “SelvaSP” came from Drago. At first, he didn’t really have a clue about “street photography”, but he was looking for a way to cover and document the human conditions in his hometown, São Paulo, by using a camera. He talked to his Childhood friend, Rafael Mattar, and the idea of forming a group, who would pursue “street photography” by actually practicing it on the streets, inspired them. Eventually they met Gustavo Minas, who already had been shooting the streets of São Paulo and together they formed the collective “SelvaSP”. By getting to know more people, who have the same idea of photography, the group has been and still is growing.

How is shooting street photography in Sao Paulo unique from anywhere else in the world? Also how do people in the streets generally respond when you photograph them?

São Paulo is a tropical metropolis without any beaches. You can smell the sweat and feel the tension in the air, which are caused by the endless human masses that fill the streets of São Paulo – our way to take pictures is influenced by this daily routine. The usual scenery is dominated by stressed inhabitants, who are trying to find their direction through the concrete jungle and a few crazy people looking for a way to overcome time. You don´t see many tourists around here, who are enjoying the beauty of the city – except by now, with the World Cup happening. From our point of view, São Paulo is an authentic place that offers so much variety and diversity in between its neighborhoods, shaped by its very own “paulistanos”. São Paulo could be defined as “the big apple of Latin America”. The respond varies from a smile, which can lead to other opportunities, to pure anger and misunderstanding. Pretty often, you are being considered as a photojournalist because it`s not common to see people with a camera on the streets.

Photo by Rafael Mattar

Who were the biggest inspirations in your street photography when you were starting off? And who are your biggest influences currently?

All of us have our own references, but there are some important names to everyone – which is the case of Carlos Moreira, who has been photographing São Paulo for over 50 years, besides other prominent photographers in the Brazilian scene such as Geraldo de Barros, Thomaz Farkas, German Lorca, Maureen Bisiliat, Pedro Fonseca, Pedro Martinelli, Cristiano Mascaro and many others who were responsible for portraying the city and its historical context. One of our main current references is Lima Photo Libre, a collective that develops an inspiring work in Peru.

Photo by Gabriela Batista

The World Cup is taking place in Brazil — what kind of photographic opportunities do you see can come out of it?

The World Cup is part of a wider context – the bigger picture is what interests us the most. However, we know it will be a moment of split emotions. Protests on one hand passionate and Brazilian soccer on the other – whatever are the circumstances, the big picture is on focus, the city and what’s happening on it.

What do you think are some of the most important traits of a street photographer?

To have the nerve and curiosity. We just need a camera and a “wig”. An excuse to go out.

Photo by Pedro Ferrarezzi

What is one of the best parts of being part of a collective– and one of the most difficult parts?

The easiest part is the sense of family – the experience of being a collective is always positive, we share responsibilities, opinions about our own work and references as well. We all learn a lot from SelvaSP. There’s almost nothing to complain about: we’ve been together for two years so this is still the honeymoon. One of the difficult points is to get together – we try to meet at least once a week. Now we are developing collective essays – we understand that this is important to get to know each other and learn from other’s work.

What do you think is the overall style of SelvaSP– in terms of aesthetics or subject matter?

Our themes are broad and include anything that involves the universe of each photographer. Our style is wild as Tarzan.

Photo by Paulo Marinuzzi

What makes SelvaSP different from all of the other street photography collectives out there?

We don´t know if SelvaSP is different from other street photography collectives and actually who cares? We are just a bunch of friends, looking for a good time together by following the same passion: photography.

Why do you photograph? What drives you to go in the streets and make images?

40% boredom. 25% flirtation. 20% vanity. 10 % The Search. 5% We don’t know.

What are some projects that SelvaSP plans to work on in the future?

We want to make a public independent contemporary photo archive of Sao Paulo city. By now, we’re producing a collective series of World Cup related photos, which can be seen on our new website. Don’t forget to check our earlier projects, too.