Never Lose Hope Gallery
Chiapada Diamantina, Brazil 2018
® Cesare Simioni
This is the first time that I have joined the WS with Ernesto, after a year of intense activity and publication with other students.
For me it was a great opportunity (unexpected until the day before the start of the WS) to understand more about what photography is able to transmit. In Andaraí and Cachoeira, cities which I have visited so many times, I had the opportunity to photograph the simplicity of daily life and see how this can be captured differently.
The analysis of Ernesto taught me to see beyond the pictures, showed me that photographs can have a lot of meanings, beyond the recorded situation. Besides that, criticisms of Frank, who have participated in many WS, have helped me to better recognise photography.
I think that after many years of photography I started to get a different look, I developed a more critical sense, an attention beyond the lens, a reflection on what my photos transmit, what the sensations they emanate. Every day Ernesto tried to transmit the “fifth essence” of photography, and that is what I should look for. Cesare Simioni
® Frank Baudino
This was my fourth trip to Bahia with Ernesto and my second trip to Chapada Diamantina.
“With each trip to Bahia I was able to develop a deeper understanding of the people and advance my photographic art. It’s interesting. I’ve been attempting street photography for the past 16 years. In the past two or three years I think I’ve more rapidly developed an understanding of what makes a good picture. (Clearly, I’m not a fast learner.)
“One of the beautiful things about Ernesto’s workshops is the trust he has developed with the families we visit and photograph. They know if we are with Ernesto we are people of good will. (Of course, they may also think we’re a little crazy.) This relationship he has with the people enables us to photograph candid, unguarded, and beautiful moments. I was also gratified that some of the people remembered me from two years ago when I last visited.
“We visited the homeless in Salvador, the descendants of runaway slaves in the quilombos of Bahia, and the worshipers of Yemanja in the Chapada region. They were quite poor materially but they gave to us all that they had. They shared with us their lives.
“As with previous workshops with Ernesto, his critiques of my images were enormously helpful in guiding my photographic progress. I’m very pleased with my images and feel that I’m continuing to develop as a photographer. Frank Baudino
