Joaquim Paiva’s passion
for photography derives from his early experiences with family photographs. At
four years old, he recalls how his mother would show him photographs of his
recently deceased father, making his understandings of the relationship between
memory and photography inherent in his most formative moments. “Photography as
memory, as self-portrait as a souvenir, as one’s experiences in life—like the
people you’ve met, places where you lived, feelings you tried to express in
images—are an integral part of my relationship to photography,” says Paiva.

In his series Family Portraits, Paiva re-photographed family photographs of his
parents as newlyweds to create a powerful tribute to the memory of his loved
ones and a reflection of his own identity. The red dirt that frames each
photograph is reminiscent of the dirt of Brasília, where Paiva lived for much
of his life.