Groupshot: SelvaSP

Photography collectives with diverse styles and philosophies are transforming São Paulo’s media landscape through their documentation of last year’s massive street protests and by exploring everyday life in the megalopolis. For Aperture magazine’s São Paulo issue, Ronaldo Entler maps a selection of some of the most important collectives working in the city.

The following first appeared in Aperture magazine #215 Summer 2014. Subscribe here to read it first, in print or online. Return to Ronaldo Entler’s introduction to the Groupshot feature here.

 

Drago, A hurt military police officer fends off attackers during the second protest against the bus-fare hikes in São Paulo, June 2013 © Drago/SelvaSP

SelvaSP, meaning São Paulo jungle, formed in 2012 with an entirely aesthetic objective: the revitalization of street photography. The group’s manifesto recalls the work of classical photographers and questions why critics have decided to view this genre as archaic. The collective, which still considers itself in a formative phase, currently has twelve members: Gabriel Cabral, Victor Dragonetti (Drago), Leo Eloy, Francisco Costa, Syã Fonseca, Gustavo Gomes, Paulo Marinuzzi, Rafael Mattar, Lucas Mello, Gustavo Morita, Padu Palmério, and Hudson Rodrigues.

Gustavo Gomes, from the series Plástico (Plastic), 2013 © Gustavo Gomes/SelvaSP

According to Gabriel Cabral, despite the group’s coverage of the 2013 protests, their photo essays are defined more by trying to capture everyday life in the city—neighborhood identities and the gestures and expressions of people on the street—than by urgent reporting on fast-breaking events. SelvaSP produces tightly edited photo essays, not the news.

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Ronaldo Entler, a researcher and photography critic, is a professor at the School of Communication of Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP), in São Paulo, where he is also the graduate coordinator of the school’s masters of photography program. Read his introduction to the Groupshot section of the issue here.

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