Translator: Theresa Ranft Reviewer: Leonardo Silva
I've always liked writing tales, stories, poems...
This habit of scribbling about life.
And it was precisely on a journey to a corner of Brazil,
- you know those moments in life
when we begin to look at the world head on, not from the side -
that I went into a general store.
You know these stores that sell everything - flour, fruit, pans;
and there's always that lady leaning silently in the corner.
I went in to buy a pen and notepad
and I saw a phrase written under the glass counter.
You know these life lessons
that enter your head, but go straight to the heart?
It read something like this:
"If your opponent is inferior to you, why fight?
If your opponent is superior to you, why fight?
If your opponent is equal to you, he will understand what you understand,
and there will be no fight."
I think it was the first time that I had encountered humanity,
not in the literal sense, but with that universal truth
that equality can exist in all relationships.
And above all, and what I believe in most,
based on simplicity.
When we travel a lot, we learn that we need less.
We learn that we are capable, whether big or small.
Capable of talking and silencing, hearing and listening,
capable of seeing and learning.
It was during this melody of life, of traveling here and there,
that I discovered photography.
Without commitments or ulterior motives,
just for the pleasure of recording what I saw.
I started traveling very early on.
From the early age of one,
I was camping in Bahia with my parents and siblings.
And in this process of traveling,
I realized, through my many travels,
that I had learned about the simplicity of beauty,
and all relationships based on simplicity are beautiful.
But at that time, in my childish naivety, there were things I didn't understand.
I remember stopping at a restaurant in a gas station,
watching the waiters serving us, and seeing other people mistreating them.
I didn't quite understand that.
And I remember seeing wanderers, tramps by the roadside.
At first I thought that was great, to go traveling the world like that.
Little did I know that these people
were probably outcasts of this human social system.
I remember thinking, "When I grow up I want to be like them.
Imagine how great it would be to travel around the world like that."
When I reached my adolescence and started traveling on my own,
I became aware of how troubled this human social system is.
So I escaped.
I went into the bush. For me, the more isolated the better.
No people, totally isolated.
It was at that time that I wrote more, and compulsively.
I wrote extensive logbooks.
I think it was a way to vent all those interpretations,
because I saw a wonderful world, which was there, free for everyone,
and I saw that human relationships with that world
didn't match that beauty; they weren't harmonious.
I photographed, but only a little.
I remember sometimes traveling with my brother
with my father's compact little camera, but I didn't photograph much.
My real companions were a pen and notepad, and I loved to write poetry.
"Golden sun, golden sand, golden water that weaves
the colors of life, awakens life."
And it was precisely on a journey, backpacking around Bahia,
that I looked at my footprints at dawn,
and I awoke.
And I saw that I belonged to humanity, that I belonged to this world,
and I saw that humanity belongs to this world.
We interfere with this world. Our energy interferes with the moment.
And then the water came and washed away my footprints,
and I perceived the impermanence of life, and came up with this thought:
"The trail may fade over time,
but if the earth, stones and sand,
and all the paths know that feet once walked there,
that a brief sensation of being is born in every step,
then the footprints don't die or cease to exist,
they just give space for another being to walk there."
And when I looked to one side and I saw mankind, saw humanity,
and saw that in this fundamental essence, which is to be born, breathe, feel, live,
we're all in the same boat.
We can all have our beliefs, ideologies, pursuits,
but in the end, we're neither better nor worse than anyone else.
We simply "are", and we belong.
And I think when talking about connection,
there's a connection, whether you want it or not,
between ourselves and the world, and us with the world.
And I think there's a foundation
that governs all living beings, which is the universal truth.
We, as individuals, have our individual paths
to follow and walk the way we desire, to have our beliefs, our pursuits,
but the direction of all these paths is one only,
which is this universal truth.
And we have the power in our hands to transform the world as we wish,
which is our free will, a gift that we have,
which can be an ordeal, depending on how we deal with it.
We can leave positive imprints on the world, knowledge, wisdom,
which have accompanied the history of mankind.
We can study the past to build the present,
and leave a legacy for the future.
We can take care of each other,
take care of our loved ones and our fellowmen.
But we can also leave negative imprints,
which may not affect us immediately, or directly,
but can affect another living creature.
And because everything is connected, will somehow affect us too.
"Was it cut because it died?
Or did it die because it was cut?
If it was to be cut, then why was it planted?"
No living creature in this world, that is ultimately here to live,
deserves to suffer for our actions.
And I think that in order to understand and be that connection,
we need to understand ourselves, and know ourselves first.
When we start on a trail, do we not look down before walking?
After all, we need to first look down at our feet,
to understand them, how to walk; and then look ahead.
It's from the inside to the outside. It can't be otherwise.
And when we realize this, we're able to understand our inner beauty.
And what we see as beautiful out there,
is really a little reflection of our state of mind.
When we feel touched by a scene, or by words,
it's because the beauty we're seeing there is inside of us.
We need to realize this.
And I think that's why I feel honored
to have experienced and known so many places,
and to be here sharing this.
I believe that knowledge only becomes wisdom when it's shared.
Humanity needs to connect with the world,
which is true, free, and beautiful.
We've lost that connection,
and because of this, we try to dominate nature.
But nothing can be dominated,
nothing in permanent transformation can be dominated.
When I look at this picture, I realize how small we are compared to nature,
but at the same time, nature is always generous.
In this process of transformation, she's always generous.
So I think we have to understand this connection,
perceive our inner radiance, to understand the radiance of our fellowmen,
to understand what "to be human" means.
"When you cannot embrace, hold out your hand.
When you cannot understand, listen.
When you cannot talk, smile.
When you cannot watch over, pray.
But unfold yourself as angels whenever someone needs you."
I think if there's a place which represents humanity the most,
it's the Brazilian backlands.
Because the backlands are arid, dry, hot most of the time, monochromatic,
but at the same time extremely colorful because of the people who live there.
They somehow reveal the color of their souls to the outside;
so their houses are colorful, their clothes are colorful,
because they want to color the world in which they live.
A quality that I've noticed in the backlands
is the art that spills out through the pores,
especially art made by hand.
Hands, manual, humans.
If the eyes are windows to the soul,
then I think hands are the curtains,
that open and close and expose our inner self.
And there is another quality that I noticed in the backlands,
which is that solidarity is directly related to needs,
because, after all, they survive that aridity
and they realize that everybody is equal and human.
So they help each other.
They see each other as human beings.
When you're there, they look at you as a human being,
not at your clothes, what you're wearing or carrying.
They see you as a human being.
So when you go to the backlands, observe the way and the path,
but remember to open up your own soul,
rid yourself of urban concepts and city standards,
because a journey only begins
when you believe that every journey is a beginning.
Unfold your vision, limited to only what you see,
because in the backlands the trees are crooked,
but within that crookedness there's water, which is the miraculous fountain of life.
Rid yourself of your concepts, and reexamine the backlands,
its empirical culture, its culture of beliefs and truths.
Deconstruct your concepts on poverty,
because simplicity isn't misery, and a mud wall isn't poverty,
because inside those mud walls there are stories, there is humanity.
Inside the mud walls, children are born, there is simplicity.
Inside that simplicity are ingenuous smiles and kindness.
Rid yourself of the covers that you so often wanted to discard,
and warm yourself in the receptivity of the backlands.
Say a greeting, invent a word, smile, improvise an accent,
and you'll be speaking the language of the backlands.
Look inside yourself and see the light that exists in your own eyes.
How much humanity is there in a single gaze?
"What gaze is this
that silences speech,
soothes the soul,
caresses the breeze,
confounds time?"
[This immense world, these backlands, so true, so human]
Thank you.
(Applause)