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Expressing Youth in Fashion with Photographer Mateus Aguiar

Discover more stories from Brazil on @instagrambrasil.

(This interview was conducted in Portuguese.)

“#hellomynameis Mateus Aguiar (@mateusaguiarph). I’m 21 years old and I’m a photographer. I was born in Rio de Janeiro, but I currently live in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. My interest in photography arose during a graphic design course where I worked on image editing. Later, I bought a camera and began to call friends to be photographed. Most of my work takes place in São Paulo, so I’m preparing to move there to reduce the amount of traveling I do. In São Paulo, I want to study studio lighting techniques and learn to use light better. What I like shooting most are fashion editorials — it’s something I always wanted to do. I try to express a youthful feeling in my photos — fashion photos with young people eating, skating and going about their daily lives — because that’s not something that you see a lot in the fashion scene here in Brazil. I’m inspired by films and TV series, and I really like the director Wes Anderson — his films have a great aesthetic!”

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Breaking Down Barriers with Favelagrafia

For more stories from Brazil, follow @instagrambrasil.

(This interview was conducted in Portuguese.)

Favelagrafia (@favelagrafia) is a photo collective, bringing together nine photographers living in nine Rio de Janeiro hilltop slums known as favelas. “The objective is to show the potential of these places and to tell the stories of important characters who make up the favelas,” says 29-year-old Josiane Santana dos Santos (@eujosiie), a photographer, journalism student and one of the founders of the project. “We want to break down the barriers of prejudice and stereotyped visions that exist.”

This is one of Josiane’s favorite photos, featuring her friend, a 23-year-old dancer named Ygor Raphael. “I made this photo to show the artistic and cultural potential that the Complexo do Alemão favela has, showing that our main weapon is art,” she says.

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Between the Cubes with 20-Year-Old Jewelry Designer Ingrid Rizzieri

This feature is part of #MadeToCreate, a series highlighting our community of entrepreneurs, makers and artisans on Instagram.

(This interview was conducted in Portuguese.)

Ingrid Rizzieri’s jewelry business Entre Cubos (@entrecubos) — translated into English as “Between Cubes” — emerged from a personal fashion quest. “The market offers a lot of classic jewelry, which is more delicate and feminine,” says 20-year-old Ingrid, who’s from São Paulo. “I could never see myself wearing that style.” Ingrid started crafting jewelry that suited her taste, but after constantly getting stopped on the street by admirers, she started selling her handmade designs. “When you want to do something new, you need to stop following trends and start listening to yourself. Follow your own instinct and develop new paths for inspiration. When you do that with passion, dedication and responsibility, the chances of success are higher.”

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Seeing Bread Smile with Moema Machado

For more stories from Brazil, follow (@instagrambrasil on Instagram. For more photos and videos of Moema’s bread-making, follow (@moema.machado) on Instagram

(This interview was conducted in Portuguese)

The ingredients in baker Moema Machado’s (@moema.machado) recipes may be simple, but the end products are full of emotion. “When the bread goes into the oven, it suddenly jumps out at me and gives a big smile,” says the 35-year-old from Goiás, Brazil. “This is how I see it, without exaggeration.” Moema’s creative process begins long before she touches the dough. She loves to dive into research, learning the history of different types of breads or the cultivation of grains. “In reality, you hardly need anything. It’s just flour, water and time. Then, everything emerges,” says Moema. “I love understanding the processes and respecting the bread’s own time, as each batch represents a challenge and a learning experience.”

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Capturing Beauty in the Banal with Street Photographer Gustavo Pereira Gomes

Discover more stories from Brazil on @instagrambrasil.

Street photographer Gustavo Pereira Gomes (@gustavominas) never gets bored. “Wherever I go, I keep an eye on the details,” says the 34-year-old from Minas Gerais, Brazil, who manages to find beauty in the banal. Whether in the small municipality of Cássia where he was born or in a metropolis like São Paulo, he wanders for inspiration. “I go out walking early in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the light is good, without any definite course in mind,” he says. “But I always have a camera with me.”

Through Gustavo’s lens, chance gains the contours of modern poetry through light, shadow and color. It is rare he returns without strong images: a silhouette reflected in a stained-glass window, a driver sleeping at the wheel, a passionate kiss, the hustle and bustle of a bus station — his windows into the passage of time.