Photo © Camila Svenson
Talent of the Year 2020 - NOMINEE: Camila Svenson
Sixteen
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This body of work is focused on adolescence and teenagers from different locations of Brazil. The on-going project has already taken place in São Paulo/capital and also in Belém do Pará, on the north of Brazil.
In an attempt to deal with the passage of time and with the investigation of different subjectivities, I ask these people questions we do not know how to answer: “What is love?”, “What is the biggest mystery in the world?”, “Where do we go when we die?”, “How do you resist?”.
Halfway there I'm invited to a class trip to a water park. There is a pink dolphin made of resin floating in a shallow pool, teenagers carry bottles of coca-cola and eat barbecue while celebrating the end of the semester. It's summer in Belém.
In São Paulo, a group of girls is getting ready for their best friend's 15th birthday party. The dance floor is filled with people who jump and hug, while they sing last week’s hit.
Here, I obsrerve adolescence and its possible speeches in different territories to also discuss a country's memory and present moment through the eyes of this generation.
I chose to work with a generation that is growing and being constituted at the same time that intense sociological and political changes are taking place in Brazil. There is an understanding that the experience of adolescence cannot be approached as something universal. Place and context directly affect how people relate to each other and their feelings. By exploring diverse subjectivities, I'm also articulating multiple political and sociological contexts and narratives.
I'm are interested in how symbolic rituals of passage and rupture take place, understanding adolescence as a key moment when thinking about time, love, belonging and human connections - subjects that have always interested me as a photographer. I participate in these small ceremonies and rituals as a explorer of my own nostalgia. I'm no longer a teenager but sometimes there is a genuine recognition in the relationships and dialogues I see, listen and photograph; as if I had the chance to access my own memories once again.
About author:
Camila Svenson (Campinas, 1989) received a certificate of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the International Center of Photography in 2015, participated in two artistic residencies: Fjúk Art Center in Húsavik, Iceland (where she developed the project "You Will Never Walk Alone" , and the Residency of the End of the World, in Casa Plana, in São Paulo (producing the contents of a book that will be published this year). It was part of collective exhibitions in the United States, Colombia, Brazil and Iceland. The individual "You Will Never Walk Alone" took place at MIS, Museum of Image of Sound, in São Paulo, in 2017. She currently lives and works in São Paulo.
In an attempt to deal with the passage of time and with the investigation of different subjectivities, I ask these people questions we do not know how to answer: “What is love?”, “What is the biggest mystery in the world?”, “Where do we go when we die?”, “How do you resist?”.
Halfway there I'm invited to a class trip to a water park. There is a pink dolphin made of resin floating in a shallow pool, teenagers carry bottles of coca-cola and eat barbecue while celebrating the end of the semester. It's summer in Belém.
In São Paulo, a group of girls is getting ready for their best friend's 15th birthday party. The dance floor is filled with people who jump and hug, while they sing last week’s hit.
Here, I obsrerve adolescence and its possible speeches in different territories to also discuss a country's memory and present moment through the eyes of this generation.
I chose to work with a generation that is growing and being constituted at the same time that intense sociological and political changes are taking place in Brazil. There is an understanding that the experience of adolescence cannot be approached as something universal. Place and context directly affect how people relate to each other and their feelings. By exploring diverse subjectivities, I'm also articulating multiple political and sociological contexts and narratives.
I'm are interested in how symbolic rituals of passage and rupture take place, understanding adolescence as a key moment when thinking about time, love, belonging and human connections - subjects that have always interested me as a photographer. I participate in these small ceremonies and rituals as a explorer of my own nostalgia. I'm no longer a teenager but sometimes there is a genuine recognition in the relationships and dialogues I see, listen and photograph; as if I had the chance to access my own memories once again.
About author:
Camila Svenson (Campinas, 1989) received a certificate of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the International Center of Photography in 2015, participated in two artistic residencies: Fjúk Art Center in Húsavik, Iceland (where she developed the project "You Will Never Walk Alone" , and the Residency of the End of the World, in Casa Plana, in São Paulo (producing the contents of a book that will be published this year). It was part of collective exhibitions in the United States, Colombia, Brazil and Iceland. The individual "You Will Never Walk Alone" took place at MIS, Museum of Image of Sound, in São Paulo, in 2017. She currently lives and works in São Paulo.