In Focus: Gleeson Paulino

Imagine you’re a professional photographer (if you’re not the one already), why do you need a high-resolution camera? Some might find the question obvious, so does the Brazilian photographer Gleeson Paulino. For him it’s primarily about the colour, which invincibility is worth fighting for, since it expresses the very spirit of nature.

Gleeson Paulino started his creative search at the age of 17, as he left his home in the south-west of Brazil and headed to Europe — first to Austria and later to England. Having grown up in a strict religious family, Gleeson dared to abandon the way decided for him by his parents and open up to the world, taking up photography. Traveling across the most beautiful places of the planet, such as the Amazon region, the artist praises the biodiversity of the environment through the lens of his camera.

Gleeson Paulino equally enjoys photographing flora, fauna, people, or better, their fusion. Sometimes he schedules his shoots, but there are also many works by Paulino inspired by a random yet elusive moment. The photographer says, there might be something special about a person that he encounters, awakening a wish to capture that face or body flanked by a vivid surrounding. 

“Once on location, the work was to unearth the beauty and simplicity that each place had to offer”.

(Gleeson Paulino, from the Hasselblad online article)

Using a high-resolution camera for Gleeson means being able to fully express the depth of colour and the visual matches one can see in the environment. However, his oeuvre is not only about the form, but also the content. The photographer touches upon the historical and cultural identity of Brazil, craving to represent his homeland from the new perspective as a country of ‘lust, hope and longing’. 

— If there was one word to describe your work, what would it be?

— FREEDOM. 

(Gleeson Paulino, from the interview with Zeynep Sahin/Based İstanbul, April 2019)

It’s essential for Gleeson to constantly look for freedom and… eventually find it. European influence and authenticity in the Latin American character, vividness and yet vulnerability of the Brazilian nature, foretaste for something bigger. Appreciating his own routes and heritage, Gleeson Paulino seeks to break through the barriers, both outward and internal ones. 

As time pass by I discover new things about myself, and the way I process my feelings have matured. This has enabled me to bring a more assertive aesthetic in my work. 

(Gleeson Paulino, from the interview with Zeynep Sahin/Based İstanbul, April 2019)

Photographs by Gleeson Paulino could be defined as magical realism of today due to their festivity, ripeness, and lurking anticipation. However, you don’t need to come in contact with the otherworld to sense that. It’s a magic of the moment that you can always find, just opening your eyes wide and freeing your imagination.

P.S. Gleeson Paulino is a photographer, but he is also a film director. His films ‘Under the eyes’ (2018) and ‘Homem Peixe’ (2019) tell the stories of people who challenged their surroundings by daring to follow their hearts and discover their true nature… Well, self-experience is crucial for many artists (and the hero today is no exception), since it forms the basis of the works, either directly or implicitly. 

Gleeson Paulino’s website: gleesonpaulino.com

His instagram: @gleesonpaulino

Author Julia Kryshevich