Luiz Baltar has a BA in Engraving/Fine Arts at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (EBA/UFRJ); a Certificate in Photography at the Escola de Fotógrafos Populares/Imagens do Povo, a project founded by João Roberto Ripper; and is currently a post-degree student in Image and Photography at Cândido Mendes University. Baltar works as a documentary photographer and develops his own projects in the field of contemporary art. He believes in the potential of photography as an activist and critical form of expression, and as such he seeks to establish a dialogue between photography and social issues, especially regarding the way we view the city.
He is a former member of Programa Imagens do Povo/Observatório de Favelas, a photography stock agency and documentation and research centre based in the favela of Maré, Rio de Janeiro. In addition to this, he was also an active member of the collective Favela em Foco, and deeply involved in projects such as Tem Morador and Folia de Imagens/Imagens do Povo.
In 2016 Baltar won two awards: the XIV Conrado Wessel Foundation Award in the category of “photography essay”, and Brazil's Photography Award, in the printed essay category. He held solo exhibitions “Fluxos” (Flows), shown at Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro, in São Paulo; and “Tudo é passageiro” (It's all transitory), curated by Milton Guran, at Galeria Oriente in Rio de Janeiro. He also took part in the collective exhibition “Linguagens do Corpo Carioca” (Languages of the Carioca Body), curated
