Simão do Vale Africano 

by Rossana Mendes Fonseca

He inhabited the world of Theatre from an early age (and he acted, directed, translated and produced for more than a decade), but his incursion in Photography was perhaps the ripe fruit of an old exploration on the subject of capturing time or the visual materialization of perception. For a long period of time – when he was fascinated by both images and words – directing and shooting would intercept in a particular way of composing a tableau, of establishing lines and patterns, of creating a mood, an hypothesis of action, of inventing a form of existence. Nowadays, he (re)creates spaces in which light and color are modulated, spaces that eminently belong to the realm of story telling; and in order to enjoy such spaces a certain “hygiene” of the eye is required.

He is certain that freedom can only be derived from imagination; and the impulse that arises from a “lively imagination”, together with scrupulous and conscious action, is an indispensable path in rewriting one’s self.

“We capture a piece of time that is almost random, because we’re not sure about what is or isn’t going to touch the sensor (or the film) and it’s all about the relationship with our own sight and with our perception of time and movement (which per se is just time dragging itself in front of our eyes).”

Every day that goes by, Simão dies a little, sleeps a little and dreams relatively much. He wakes up late, restless and, perhaps because he grew up in a mad house, he tries to nurture himself, every “morning”, with a sense of humor and beauty, his favorite weapons to fight inevitability.