Garimpeiros da Luz Gallery
Chiapada Diamantina, Brazil 2010
® Lorenzo Martelli
To write a comment about one of Ernesto’s workshops it’s not an easy exercise because you need to talk mostly about indescribable experiences. From a geographical place Bahia transforms itself in a place of the mind, therefore in a world of ineffable beauty. When you submerge yourself in this world it’s impossible to stay away from its fascination, which, when you return home, will stay with you and you won’t be able to get off your mind.
From Salvador to Chapada, from the skin to the heart of the state with destination a small, unassuming Macondo totally aware of its precious identity and perhaps, because of this, immune to the upset of a consumer society and the human, moral and cultural withering that derives from it. Often, we were given the privilege to simply photograph daily life that gave us some of the most beautiful surprises and it made us forget the difficulties that, at times, we had to face. Our evenings would end up with lots of laughter and a few shots of local cachaça. After a short period of time, all these short and dense day-to-day experiences have been crystallized and continue to live in our images, a testimony that we all worked well. I return home grateful, having learned among many things the meaning of the word saudade. Ernesto is right and so is Fernando Pessoa, poetry is everywhere.
Lorenzo Martelli
® Sebastian Liste
I came to Bahia with the feeling that I was returning home. I found myself again in this town mestiza that mysterious place with her black soul and mulatto body, which created the endless fusion between what came from Africa and from these places. Together with Ernesto, Lorenzo and Sophie we arrived to the most beautiful village in the Chapada Diamantina, a place where the daily craziness and tenderness were building up as we were taking our steps over the echoes of cultures submerged in history. Together we spent extraordinary moments at water falls both fantastic and treacherous, at beautiful religious and pagan celebrations while we were wondering what Rita would fix for us for dinner.
After my second workshop I understood I understood what it means to be Bahiano because being from Bahia doesn’t mean just to be born there but it’s also a state of mind of those who are capable to penetrate within the culture; it’s a way of feeling life that impregnates each act and each thought. To learn about Bahia means to make it as a part of yourself recognizing yourself in this endless city or in the mysteries that surround her.
Sebastian Liste
® Sophie Peeters
These fabulous 10 days in Brazil went so way beyond a photography workshop… just like taking a photograph, the team just “worked”. We experienced such wonderful, warm, exiting, emotional, beautiful moments together which I will cherish forever. The magic of Chapada Diamantina was the perfect setting for the discovery of a life & natural treasures which seem to be hiding from the rest of the world. The inner beauty of the local people who welcomed us with open arms is rare and very precious. The waterfall adventures, the river crossing the road, the frog hunter, Jauperi,… are just a few of the reminiscences which will bring me straight back to the memory of those unforgettable days. Thank you Sebas, Lorenzo and especially Ernesto for these 10 unforgettable days.
Sophie Peeters
