Living in Peru : your everyday companion

"Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. The future depends on what we do in the present."  (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948)

Tatiana is a Brazilian independent photographer and visual artist, based in São Paulo, Brazil. After spending more than a decade working as an Art Director and Graphic Designer for magazines and newspapers such as Elle (fashion), Saúde (health), Placar (soccer) and four years at the Victor Civita Foundation, a Brazilian educational non-profit organization, she shifted her focus to photography, social and cultural issues and human rights; as well as a new beginning in late 2003.

Basically she grew tired of the commercial stuff, even when she was working for the Foundation where political interests and pressure inconveniently tried to influence her creativity and message. "The world is always about the interests of a few people, a minority class that has all the money to buy the things they want. Facing the inequality in my country has been the most difficult challenge for me," she says.

Today, she works mostly independent, does her own research and her travels are paid from her own pockets. She occasionally accepts a few assignments, but she still prefers to develop her own issues and follows her own agenda and principles.

One of the numerous fans at her Flickr.com website described her with the following words:

“She shows us her soul with photos depicting their confrontation with human rights issues around the world, the everyday struggle to survive. Henri Cartier-Bresson wrote that great photographs come about in that fraction of a second when the head, heart and eye find perfect alignment in an axis of the spirit. Tatiana has this gift.

The photos of Tatiana reveal the precision of her vision, the breadth of her mind and imagination, the reach of her spirit and most important of all, the size of her heart, as expansive and all embracing as the Brazil she loves so dearly”.

Tati, as she is called among her friends, tries to go against the tides in Brazil, which can be so powerful that few have the courage to face them. She has that courage and it shows in just about every single image she creates.

Hold your son

Her dignified and loyal attempts to constantly unite the two separate worlds of Brazil are often beautifully illustrated through the magnificence of her talented and artistically observing eyes. She is truly an artist and her subject matters respect her art as if it were their very own. In reality they are lending her something very personal and very precious, a present that so very few photographers are honored to receive, they are lending her their souls.

But not only the destiny of ethnic groups in her own country has the focus of her camera. Peru and the Quechua speaking people are "alive in her soul" as well, as she says. Almost ten years ago she actually spent several weeks living with small, indigenous communities in the Sacred Valley, near Ollantaytambo. Tati's wish is to return soon.

Since I had not yet the pleasure of meeting her in person - which will hopefully happen very soon - Tati was so kind and answered the questions I had for her via email:


LIP: Hi Tati – or Rimaykullayki, as they say in Quechua - thanks for joining us here at LivinginPeru.com. Your photography is firmly rooted in your native country of Brazil but I believe you have also developed a strong affinity for the indigenous population of Peru. How come?

Talking to stones - Solace in the stones of the ages at Ollantaytambo

TC: First of all thank you so much for your interest in my work. I’ve been to Peru twice, and during my last visit I was part of a group studying traditional indigenous cultures. The group had their own connections with some indigenous communities, one of them from Peru, near Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley.

There I lived inside the community for a while, sharing knowledge, social work, spiritual guidelines and traditional rituals such as a Temascal (a combination of spa, sauna, and bath house), the Vision Quest (La Busca de la Vision), and others. These kinds of experiences, rituals, and sharing daily life can permit you to feel deeply connected with others, and the Quechua were really admirable people. They remain inside my soul as a symbolic representation of power of the Peruvian people.

LIP: What are the roots for your particular interest in the South American indigenous population and how did it all begin?

TC: My connections with indigenous people started in my childhood when I discovered that my grandfather wasn't a Japanese descendent as I used to believe, but an indigenous Brazilian Xavante descendent.

Then, as a teenager with interests in cultural roots, and later, I joined specific groups to study indigenous traditions and culture.
My interest is about all indigenous people worldwide, not only South America. Sadly, traveling to other countries and continents is difficult. But I see the indigenous populations from all over the world linked and connected by their own perception of nature, as a unique nation, as a different type of human being and society.

LIP: I have seen TV documentaries on the rituals and social schemes of the Yanomami tribe but otherwise I believe there isn’t much video material available. In your experience, do the various ethnic groups of the Amazon appreciate being filmed or photographed, or would they rather be left alone and continue with their mostly secluded lifestyles and traditions?

TC: My experiences with Amazon groups inside their homes aren’t that many. Until now, most of my pictures of them were taken during a large meeting, the Indigenous National Party held in the Brazilian city of Bertioga which is not in the Amazon.
I believe that this makes my contact and perception of them completely different, because indigenous people who chose to be at this meeting are open to sharing with others.
What I heard from some of them is that they are tired of being viewed as simple exotic people and being explored as colorful imagery. But they also don't want to be isolated; they want rights, dignity, information access and land to belong to. Without land, it's impossible to be indigenous.

I've seen older people at this event who were very proud of being a part of my photographic documentary. I think it's because of their understanding, elders have a better sense of time, the traditions changing, sometimes being forgotten. It's an oral tradition, oral knowledge; they understand that documentation may help in the future.
I believe they are open to share their lifestyles, but we usually don't respect them, so they need to be closed, especially in some dangerous areas of occupation.

LIP: In the 20th century, the Brazilian Government adopted a more humanitarian attitude and offered official protection to the indigenous groups, including the establishment of the first Indian reserves. In your experience, is this a successful initiative? What are the major concerns and threats today from an indigenous perspective? What are their most immediate needs?

Brazilian Children's Day with CARF

TC: I asked Marcos Terena to help answer this question from an indigenous perspective. He is an indigenous leader with opinions that I respect a lot. He’s the president of the Brazilian Intertribal Committee, and coordinator of VIATAN (the Indigenous Center of Information, where I am a council member).

These Brazilian government initiatives were welcomed in that time when there wasn’t any consideration or humanitarian outlook regarding indigenous people. Before this, they used to be called "sluggish people". Then the government started to publicly assimilate its obligation to protect its own native people, but they also didn't stop the advancement of colonization. Sadly, during the years, the structure of those initiatives became too paternalist, essentially neutralizing their sovereignty and autonomy on a cultural, linguistic and ethnic level.

Only after the new Federal Constitution was approved in 1988, indigenous rights of being owners of their own lands, recognizing their social diversity and autonomy, started being respected. This means less than 20 years of history and development.

children from the Tapajós river (Health and Happiness in the Amazon)

Since the beginning of the new century, the indigenous people are walking the international circuit through the United Nations and OAS. The immediate needs related to quality and merits are being promoted by those leaders, as delimitation and respect of their areas, a bilingual education system with complete academic assistance, and healthcare. Besides this, they need access to new technologies, like Internet and information access, to use as tools for territorial defense and cultural interchange.

In face of badly decided contracts from the official system related to environmental protection, sustainability, and territorial management, a new moment was born… economic development.

LIP: Have you heard of the Peruvian Ayahuasca brew? If so, have you ever taken more than a sip? What do you think of shamanistic healing powers?

TC: Yes, I have heard about it. I think an inner voice will tell me when, where, with who and, if I'll want to do it someday, but the Ayahuasca hasn’t happened yet. We also have the same roots and rituals in Brazil, and of course I'm curious but I’ll keep my respect for that future moment.
It's difficult to "think" about shamanistic healing powers, they are mostly mysterious and not understandable in traditional scientific thinking. Their knowledge about medicinal herbs can be looked upon with this perspective, but their healing power is beyond good herbs, it also happens on a spiritual level. This is a difficult vision for our occidental way of thinking because we aren’t used to seeing the connections between body and soul.
I've already had some really strong experiences with that in my life, and thus I respect nature’s power and its mysteries. Their knowledge and perception is different and provides another way to share life with the universe, another reality in the way they see and feel this world.

LIP: I hope you don’t mind if I say that I see your images and photographic endeavors as a combination of skillful art, your personal identification with these people, a medium to spread the word and raise awareness, your thirst for adventure, and a job that provides your main income. Is that an accurate assessment? And what would you describe as the most important, most challenging, most fascinating and the most rewarding aspect of your work?

where do we go? (Prestes Maia)

TC: Yes, thank you, I think it's an accurate assessment. The photos of indigenous people are a strong and important piece of my work, but I'm also working with other issues. There is the world of the Prestes Maia occupation, a heart of a social movement where I've been documenting life and changes for more than a year, a project I am still working on.

I also research and document good, beneficial social projects, to show initiatives happening elsewhere, made by people like you and me, as a way to inspire and show a path that everybody can do. I believe that constant individual actions are keys to developing a better society, and it needs to happen now. The CARF-Brazil (Children at Risk Foundation), the Health and Happiness Project, and the Afro-Reggae photo sets are great examples of what is possible if you want a better world.

Sometimes I call my photography “social photography,” not only because of the social documentation issues, but because of the consequences and possible social changes that evolve from this use of communication. It happens on different levels; my photos can be interpreted as a denunciation, a call for action, a protest, a petition, a campaign, or just as educational information. But the intention of my projects, and probably the most important aspect of what I seek, is focused on social development by opening minds, hearts and eyes and sensitize them to social inequalities and human spirituality.

"Don't shoot me" Afro-Raggae in Brazil

The challenges are many. The most difficult one has been to find my own "place" in Brazil, the right "market" for me here. Also breaking language barriers and work with my independent production, without falling onto the traditional steps of commercial editorial publishers are other challenges.
Discovering new models of society and universal meanings while being connected with people from different social levels and cultures, looking for those "things" that join us all, is very fascinating for me.

And the most rewarding is the great opportunity to work daily with things that I really believe in with passion, developing a world of visual language with meanings, meeting cultures and great people, and learning to be myself through my work.

LIP: Do you have a favorite among your images and is there a story behind it?

TC: Oh, that's hard to answer. I think I have many favorites. Maybe I can tell you about a favorite set: the Indigenous National Party and it's because of all the stories that happened behind every picture there.
This set was taken at the last meeting, but it happens every year.

Indigenous National Party 2006

For indigenous people, the whole world has meanings. To be with my ancestors and their deep connections with nature are the most respectful moments of my work. It's the desire to remember where I belong, who I am and where I come from, and what I'm doing with my world and work.

LIP: Is this a dangerous job? Have you ever been threatened by someone or something while doing your job, because you stepped on someone’s toes? For example, you told me that you don’t like to publish full frontal portraits of yourself because you prefer to remain somewhat incognito.

TC: Sometimes it can be dangerous to be a photographer in some conditions, especially when you work in some areas to denounce social problems. Sometimes people you'll talk about are employers, international corporations, police forces, politicians, the government...
Yes, I've been threatened before, and I'm sure it's better to stay somewhat incognito, but without being transformed into a neurotic person. Right now, one of the issues I've been working on during the last year (denouncing infancy work at international talcum mines in the state of Minas Gerais) is censored by a judge defending local political and corporative interests, but also being investigated by the Brazilian Labor Department of Justice.

Personally, the full frontal self portraits are made to friends, to family, to my social world; and I also feel that some personal things must be respected, kept sacred; and I only share my live, my personal world, my privacy, with some people very close to me.

LIP: What are ethnic rituals like in the Amazon jungle? I have heard of the Kuarup ceremony held by Indians in the Xingu River region and I know from some personal images you sent me that you are wearing a tattoo that was painted by a Pareci indigenous man. Does that make you feel like being “one of them”?

tattoo artist Nhikwyry Kayapo

TC: They are so many... not possible for me to describe them all. There is a very good research institute that gathers and connects a lot of information about indigenous people. It's the Instituto Sócio Ambiental (Environmental Social Institute), providing information in English and Portuguese.

My images you've been asking about are a ritual that I repeat every year, before photographing the Indigenous National Party. Indigenous people use body painting art as a representation of their culture and as rituals.

It means different things to different tribes, but the fact is that every happening, every meeting, every festivity, every important thing of their lives is celebrated and represented by this act. So, when I stay with them, I like to do the same ritual, to celebrate and honor my ancestors, too.

Last year, I was painted by a woman named Nhikwyry Kayapó.

"her hand, my leg" Kayapó tattoo

LIP: What is the most important message you can give our readers? What can we all do to help these people and your cause? Where and with what should we start?

TC: I believe in this important simple message: Create the world the way you want to live in. Use your energy of being alive to develop work you believe in and what suits you most.

To help indigenous people we should first respect them, their rights, their land, their economy, their needs, culture, traditions, religion, and the environment.

For the cause, I think people can do whatever they are able to: be informed, sign petitions, support organizations that help indigenous protection, environmental defense and everything that respects nature. Give your support in the way you can, but it's important that you do something. Spread the word about indigenous rights.
Let's stop looking at them as a people that should be preserved in a box, in a museum, in an isolated way, and instead start to accept them as people like us, people in development that need to be respected... and maybe we will give a chance to developing a new model of society which is more balanced.
Let's learn with them.
In addition, support the documentation, the research of their rich culture, because it will change fast, and something we can do is to register the present now.

LIP: Tati, thank you so much for helping us doing this article and interview. When will you come back for a visit to Peru? Are there any plans about a future photo exhibition at a gallery in Lima or in other cities? Will we soon be able to see your work at Peru’s Museo de la Nacion?

TC: Thank you, I enjoyed talking with you a lot even though my English skills are far from being perfect.
I'm not sure yet, but there were some plans in my agenda to go to Lima in the next semester. I really hope it happens.
I don' have plans for an exhibition right now. My projects are longer and not less than 4 years, so I still don't seek or think much about complete exhibitions, except when some of my work is invited to be part of an exhibition.
For sure, I will be very proud to send my work to Peru's Museo de La Nacion, at any time.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.


(all photos Copyright of Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.
If you wish to contact her for publishing rights please email her at tati.cardeal@uol.com.br)

- links to Tati Cardeal's photos and websites -

- Flickr.com
- Slideshow at 'yesterdayslife.com'
- Brazil Social Photography at 'tatianacardeal.blogspot.com'

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