It’s hard to believe that you could find such happiness in such dark times.
Being independent for the first time, experiencing so much, and being free to create was good for me. I remember when my mom visited me for the first time in Ireland, she said that there were so many other people like me there.
I got some jobs and I could stay in Ireland for one more year. After my visa had run out, I had to think about if I wanted to pay a lot of money and renew it or if I wanted to go somewhere else.
I have an aunt who has been living in Portugal for almost 20 years now. Back then she was living in the United Kingdom, but my cousin lived here and she invited me to stay at her house.
So that’s how your way ended here in Faro?
I didn’t like my life here so much in the beginning, because it was very different from my lifestyle in Dublin, I could not photograph because no one knew about me yet and specially because I was illegal for about 2 years until they approved my visa, but I was also very lucky since the beginning.
I had to go back to Brazil for three months to get a divorce, but then I came back to Portugal. I started to like my new life here. I was very lucky. I met the right people at the right time. I started to work and got a contract job in a wine bar.
I saved money and after three years I could buy a camera and equipment for photography again. I could start photographing professionally again. One client here in Faro discovered that I was a photographer and she asked me if I could start photographing her yoga retreats. I am still photographing retreats until today but now all over Europe… It was a huge door for my career…
How did you start with photography?
I started at home by playing with my cousins. I have always loved to dress and photograph. The connection between clothing, fashion, and photography altogether has always been fun to me.
I was maybe 12 years old and I didn't have a proper camera. I was a kid and I was just looking for inspiration. I loved the pictures of nature and the travel. Landscapes. For me, it was like a beautiful world that I didn’t have access to.
But later on, I was able to attend this photography course at the university that I was talking about.
And you’re still taking pictures.
I was getting a little bit tired of photography. I have been doing this for 15 years now. I started professional photography when I was 15. Oh wow. And I love it. It's amazing. But sometimes, in the summer, I don’t stop taking pictures and moving from one place to another and it can take a lot of energy.
Have you ever thought about going back to Brazil?
In the beginning, I was so traumatized by everything that had happened, that I thought I never want to come back to Brazil. Even not to visit. The image I had of my country was horrible. However, two years ago, I went back to visit my family and friends, because I was missing them so much. I felt a sort of reconnection. I felt that all of my problems were gone and the emptiness I felt here was solved by one week spent in the river where my grandparents live.
I thought about going back and rebuilding my life there, but then I opened this shop here. The idea has always been in my head. I have a lot of friends who have no space to exhibit their art right now. I wanted to create a space where people have the freedom to sell their things and work together. I wanted to create a place where people have the freedom to not only sell their art but also have a space to create this art and work alone or in community.
You already had the idea of this shop in Brazil.
I started in the trailer of my mom that had been to some sort of restaurant before. It was in the back of the house. I organized a little event with some of my friends, in which we sold some second-hand clothes.
In my head, I always had the idea of my shop inside a trailer. It’s amazing to have this own specific place 10 years later. I bought a caravan here first. That was three years ago. A little bit before Covid. I finally got some money to buy the caravan and then I built the shop inside and it was nice. I wanted to do some festivals there. And then covid started and I could not do it properly, but with time things were happening again and I found my place doing some markets and events specially around community’s in the Algarve.
