The photographer has finally arrived, he is from South America, but spends a lot of time in Europe and then travelling on assignments, and his name is Sebastiao Com’Sal. He is exhausted from the trip and although his hand has healed up, his foot still needs resting.
I had no idea what kind of type he would be, I had, to be honest, expected someone young, hip, with a ton of expensive lenses and equally expensive cases for them and all the newest know-how about the latest fashions in light and composition, plus at least a BA from a hip (in-affordable) photo course. In fact I had prepared myself for a fight or insults when the headbutting about “who is the better photographer ?” would begin, just in case.
Fact is, I have neither expensive equipment (which is why I am the master of cheap tricks to bridge where your LEICA simply was not at home that moment when you needed it), and I don’t have a degree in photography per se, instead I came across it by accident, because I had handed in two pictures on a whim in a competition which won a nomination, after that this competition got big, based on that I got a job offer to do stage photography for a very avant-garde theatre group etc. etc… It’s complicated and at this point where I still jump from assignment to assignment I feel no match for the big guys with the straight and flawless lineage.
Instead here is an old man with so far not much brand-new equipment at all, no more than fits in one backpack anyways, and he seems more a poker partner for Vincent than a snooty college kid with an attitude (what a relief!) And so here he is, wrapped in a blanket, sitting in the lobby with us, chatting and laughing quite a bit, over coffee and cupcakes.
Josiane Keller “Sebastiao Com’Sal in the lobby 1” (2016)
Josiane Keller “Sebastiao Com’Sal in the lobby 2” (2016)
Josiane Keller “Sebastiao Com’Sal in the lobby 3” (2016)
So it seemed safe to proceed to the next question, which I could ask him directly, that so far nobody had known the answer to: “What kind of photographs are you taking?” upon which he asked me if I wanted to see some pictures from his recent assignment and when I agreed, he said “Documentary. This one is on workers, mostly. I do others on migration, nature, the environment. Trying to show these to people who otherwise have no chance to see it, trying to raise their awareness to it. I am hoping my work will contribute to conservation of the planet.”
I was impressed. No wonder the man got injured doing these, and no wonder he seemed a little tired.
Here are some of his shots:
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 2” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 3” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 5” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 7” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 19” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 20” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 26” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 28” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 29” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 30” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 33” (2016)
Sebastiao Com’Sal “workers 35” (2016)
The shots were a little harsh to see, all these guys so focused and so many of them had drowned whilst the others simply kept going. I guess that is life on earth.