BURIAL

When I was only 21 I lost my father. He had been depressed for nearly an year and at a certain point he wasn’t able to handle life anymore. He was buried in Rio where I used to live with him and my mom. In spite of Rio well known natural beauties the city has the ugliests cemeteries I’ve ever visited. On my father’s funeral that was the first time I stepped on a cemetery in Brazil. Its coldness hit me deeply and was confronted with the fact that I knew that would be most probably the only time I would see my father’s grave. And that’s what happened. -- This series of black & white photographs were made throughout walks at two different cemeteries in Berlin. Until now I never stopped to fully understand the reason why I enjoy going to german cemeteries by myself. I think for me it’s a tiny moment where I get in touch and think about my father. When I make piece with myself for not come back to his grave. The idea of using the Mamiya 7 II was to use its multiple exposure button in an attempt of showing in double the beauty I see at cemeteries. The statues represent in my opinion each one lying under the earth and I feel honoured to portray all of them. -- I will continue this project and my next step is to photograph at Ohlsdorf, in Hamburg, the 2nd biggest cemetery in the world.