{"id":9218,"date":"2021-04-30T10:25:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T10:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=9218"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:05:39","slug":"every-picture-you-create-should-contains-a-part-of-you-a-part-of-something-that-is-hidden-deep-within-your-soul-elaine-melo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=9218","title":{"rendered":"“Every picture you create should contains a part of you, a part of something that is hidden deep within your soul.” – Elaine Melo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exclusive Interview with ELAINE CRISTINA DE MELO PEREIRA SOUZA – Brazilian Photographer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Elaine Melo is a young Brazilian\nphotographer from Sao Paulo passionate about the ability of the image to\ntransfigure reality and transcend it. She particularly appreciates the use of\nphotography to let the world discover her country, on which she invites to take\nanother look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After winning the Best EY Dallas\nphotography Contest in 2016 and the Best Osasco Butterfly Contest of Sao Paulo in 2019, her work\nwas exposed at the International Film Exhibition. Then,\nshe worked as a photographer for the Orchestra Camerata Borlenghi, for the\nPhilharmonic Orchestra of Santo Amaro, for the Museum of Modern Art of Sao\nPaulo, for the Pinacoteca Museum of Sao Paulo and for famous Brazilian singers\nlike Roberto Frejat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, Elaine Melo began to enter her works into international festivals and contests. So far, she won five awards and 29 nominations for her photos in various countries like the United States of America, Brazil, Russia, Iran, India, Slovakia, Estonia, Nigeria, Belarus, Turkey, and Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Miracle of Innocence – Elaine Cristina Melo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Tell us a little about\nyourself. Where did you grow up?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My parents\ncame from the Northeast of Brazil, a very poor region of the country. To get a\nbetter life, they went to live in Sao Paulo, the most important city in the\ncountry. But they were considered immigrants even if we are all Brazilian born\nand raised. As anyone coming from the Northeast, my parents suffered strong\nracial and class prejudice. The Southeast people believe they are superior to\nother Brazilians from the rest of the country. I remember that when my parents had\nto find a school for me, the school director didn’t want me, or any black\nperson like me, to study at this school because she was saying that this school\nwas not for us.  There were very few\nblack people in this school. My mother fought tooth and nails and even went to\nthe police station to file lawsuits until the school agreed to take me. But\neven once I was in that school, the racial harassment kept going with a lot of bullying\nand humiliation. Even after my school years, when I went to college, I was the\nlast girl from my class to get a job or an internship despite having very good\ngrades. All because of my skin color. To this day, wether I go to the museum or\nany other art building, it\u2019s not rare that I get reported or taken for the\ncleaning lady. In the minds of too many people here, people with dark skin are\nonly there to serve and clean. Hopefully, my family was culturally rich. My\nfather always liked music and I grew up listening to a lot of Brazilian popular\nmusic. I think that music inspires my art a lot because when I’m taking a\npicture, lyrics of old songs that my father sang come to my mind. As I\u2019m\nwriting this, my heart is being clenched because we shouldn\u2019t have to suffer\nsuch racism and rejection from the country we love so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: How long have you been a\nphotographer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have always been in love with art. During school, I was often used to attend cultural centers that were presenting works of art, music, dancers, paintings, books etc. I studied at a college located near the Pinaconteca of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo and the Portuguese Language Museum, two very reknowned art centers. Whenever I could, at least once a week, I visited these places and took photos of the works of art, of the buildings and their details. This was a way for me to always keep art close to me, as the pictures were travelling with me on my cell phone. The more I was taking photos, the more I was falling in love with it. However, for financial reasons, I was not able to graduate in arts, so I graduated in secretarial and writing automation. I kept art as a hobby, my \u201cViolon d\u2019Ingres\u201d like I was used to say. I was taking pictures of my family members, of things I ate, of nature and of everything that touched my soul. One day, some friends asked me to take pictures of them. It was a revelation for me. I trully fell in love with the process. I then decided to take photography lessons, even though I didn’t have a camera yet, as the equipment was very expensive for my financial conditions at the time. After months of learning and practice, with the support of some friends, I was finally able to buy an entry level camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bliss – Elaine Cristina Melo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWhat type of photography are you interested in? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love to do portraits because it\ntakes me into this fabulous journey of capturing the innermost beauty of a human\nbeing. And when the model is satisfied by the beauty of its very depiction, I\nfeel I’m on the right track in my photographic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world is filled with so much\nsorrow and so many ills. I wish I could improve and uplift this world. This is\nwhy my goal, as na\u00efve as it may seem, is to bring light and love to people\nthrough my photographs. I love to photograph everything that touches me,\neverything with photographic beauty, everything connecting me with the sacred.\nA flower, a smile,  a silence or a music.\nI feel a burning compulsion to photograph anything that touches my soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nHow would you describe your style?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite style definitely is black and white, because the contrast drags me within the picture for me to witness the power of this dance between light and shadow. I also enjoy taking pictures in colors, but I definitely favor subjects with bright and strong colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Little girl and the outside world – Elaine Cristina Melo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What do you consider the\nmost important breaks in your career and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important breaks in my\ncareer were for me to win the Best Osasco Butterfly Contest of Sao Paulo and to\nphotograph the International Film Exhibition. I remember the day when my\nphotography teacher, Martin Gurfein, called me to congratulate me because I had\nbeen selected in the contest. Long before I begin studying photography,\nMartin was a photographer I admired a lot for\nhis work, his intelligence and his generosity. Martin photographed a lot of\nfamous people in Brazil and in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWhat are you currently working on? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a difficult time for everyone. There is a lot of darkness\nand negativity in the media, the newspapers, and even in our conversations with\nour friends. Hope seems to be gone. So many are depressed or lost\ninto low self-esteem. So many lost the desire to live. That is why I’m working on a project where the theme is about\nturning our darkness into light. I want to encourage people to believe\nthat the future can be better if we start doing something with what we have now. I want to\nshow people that even within our limitations,\nwe can build great things. I want my\nphotos to show people that they’re beautiful the way they are and that perfection\nis dull. The beauty standard where\neveryone is the same or has the same haircut does not belong to the\nforthcoming post-Covid era. Because the more we\u2019re\ndifferent, the stronger and the brighter we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWhat\u2019s one of the most interesting shoots that you\u2019ve done?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My most fascinating\nshoot was definitely \u201cPrimeira Luz\u201d (First Light<\/em>). It was about shooting\nthe birth of a baby. I remember every second of it. I remember that Martin\nGurfein showing me the books \u201cThe Archer Zen\u201d, \u201cHistory of Beauty and History\nof Ugliness\u201d and talking about issues of ethics, zeal and responsibility when\nshooting. I remember the prayer I said before the shooting. And when I entered\nthe delivery room, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I remember\nthe eyes of the pregnant woman and the kiss on the forehead that she got from\nher husband. When the doctor said it was time, I positioned myself, held my\nbreath and captured this miracle of life while feeling like an archer with only\none arrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWho\u2019s your favorite model you\u2019ve done a shoot with and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite model is Leticia. Pictured\nin a big part of my portfolio, I definitely love her photogenicity, her\nkindness, her patience and the power of her eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Do you have an all-time\nfavorite camera\/lens combination?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a canon Rebel t6i with\nCanon and Tamron lenses. But in the future, I would love to try Fuji and\nHasselblad cameras along with Sigma and Leica lenses. Right now, I really have\na thing for the 50mm Canon lens, but I love to have fun with all the types of\nlenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Describe your biggest\naccomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, I began submiting my pictures to competitions and festivals worldwide. Between September 2020 and April 2021, I had the pleasure and the honor of winning 4 awards and 28 nominations, with my pictures being exposed in many countries like the United States of America, Brazil, Russia, Iran, India, Slovakia, Estonia, Nigeria, Belarus, Turkey and Romania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
First Light – Elaine Cristina Melo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Who would you like to\nphotograph next? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to photograph the\nBrazilian rapper, singer and songwriter Emicida. He often talks to the diversity\nand about what it means to be black in a racist country. He also encourages\nblack people to dream and go after their dreams. I want to photograph our\nformer president Lula, for all that he represents to Brazil and mainly for\nhaving taken the needy and hopeless population to the university through social\nprograms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Who\/what inspires you? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m inspired by other photographs like Annie Leibovitz\nand Peter Lindbergh, by the Bible, by Ruben Alves,  Michele Obama, Rembrandt, Umberto Eco, by s<\/a>miles, flowers and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Have you traveled much\nfor work? Do you have a favorite location?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve traveled to Bahia and it was\namazing. I really enjoyed two very striking locations. One was Pelourinho, a\nplace that stands out for its diversity of colors and beautiful architecture,\nand of course I can’t help but mention that it is a very interesting place culture\nwise. There are moments when the sea and the sky mix and we don’t really know\nwhich is which anymore. And the other location was in the Church of Bonfim,\nregarded as a holy place for bahians. Every Friday people wear white and create\na fantastic contract with the colorful ribbons that enfeinate the church, as\nwell as the sea and the red. The church has neo-classical style with rococo\nfa\u00e7ade. Inside, in addition to tiles and frescoes, there are many details in\ngold.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nFavorite quote?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s quite a difficult question.\nMy instagram is full of quotes that I love very much, but there is one that I\nthink is very special and that motivates me to photograph: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose who experience beauty are\nin communion with the sacred.\u201d Rubens Alves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography makes me feel in\ncommunion with the sacred. I can see the infinite beauty of it through the lens,\nregardless of where I am. Even in the midst of chaos, in a difficult day or in\na very poor place with few resources, I can see the sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWhat is your advice for aspiring photographers? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Peter Lindbergh perfectly\nstated it, \u201cMaybe all this is a question of how deep we are willing to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every picture you create should\ncontains a part of you, a part of something that is hidden deep within your\nsoul. This is how your art will be unique and impactful. You wont become a\ngreat photographer if money or equipment are your main motivations.  You must channel love, anger, frustration and passion\nthrough your pictures. All these emotions\nshould function as your main driving forces. Then, it\u2019s necessary to show a deep\nrespect for your subject, whether it\u2019s a person, an object or a place. Respect and ethic are fundamental to open yourself to\nphotographic mastery. Finally, it is\nimportant to always study and train, every day, as an athlete dreaming of winning\nthe Olympics. Hard work always pays off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:\nWhat is next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, in Brazil, we are still in the middle of the Pandemic. The news are sad. I believe this time is like winter. Flowers are gone, lost in the immaculate landscapes of snow. But as spring comes, flowers also come back to life.  I believe our spring is coming in the near future. This is why I’m working on a photographic series about finding beauty, even in the most difficult times. I want to show how lives have been transformed during the pandemic and what we can get out of all this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Light on an angel – Elaine Cristina Melo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive Interview with ELAINE CRISTINA DE MELO PEREIRA SOUZA – Brazilian Photographer Elaine Melo is a young Brazilian photographer from Sao Paulo passionate about the ability of the image to transfigure reality and transcend it. She particularly appreciates the use of photography to let the world discover her country, on which she invites to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-fashion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19173,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions\/19173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}