The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, spanning 6.7 million square kilometres. It is thought to be home to 10% of known species on Earth, as well as 47 million people. Over 400 Indigenous groups, speaking 300 languages, live in the Amazon. All of this to say: the region is one of the most biodiverse on Earth. WWF states that it “plays a critical role in our fight against climate change.” Yet, despite its vital importance, every minute an area of rainforest roughly equivalent to 5 football pitches is cut down.
Gleeson Paulino (b. 1988) is a Brazilian photographer whose work navigates the intersections of nature, identity and environmental activism. The exhibition Echoes Of The Amazon, presented by Galerie Gomis in collaboration with non-profit Tales, is dedicated to highlighting the region’s breathtaking beauty, whilst also shedding light on the social and environmental challenges it faces. Paulino’s pictures are deeply evocative, spanning portraits, aerial landscapes and lush studies of native plants and animals. All of them are captured in Paulino’s signature style, which is infused with elements of fashion and surrealism. This exhibition offers a completely fresh perspective on the Amazon, moving beyond the familiar media focus on habitat destruction and suffering. Paulino focuses instead on colour, light and, most importantly, life.
Paulino was born in Eldorado, a small city of 16,000 in Mato Grosso do Sul – a Brazilian state renowned for its nature and biodiversity – but left for Vienna at 17 through a music study programme for young people in his religious community. The journey to Europe eventually led him to London, where he began his career as a photographer, and developed a visual language defined by vibrant colour and natural light. Paulino returned to Brazil years later, and, since then, Paulino has worked between São Paulo, London and Paris. He has gained widespread acclaim, especially for Batismo, a striking series of photographs that pays homage to his birthplace and centres around water as a symbol. The dreamlike collection chronicles Brazil’s people and biodiverse ecosystems, and has since been published as both a book and an exhibition.
Paulino has a talent for picking out details from the environment – leaves, seeds, light refractions or butterfly wings – and turning them into dreamlike artworks. “My process is very much about feeling,” the artist told Aesthetica when he was featured at PhotoVogue Festival earlier this year. “When I click the shutter, I can already sense if the image is right – it’s the magic of the moment.” It’s a vision that translates to his portraiture, too. Paulino believes building a bond with his subjects is key, and Echoes Of The Amazon depicts people bathing in rivers, fishing, driving motorbikes into the sunset or sitting under cascading waterfalls. Viewers might be reminded of Brazilian artist and activist Claudia Andujar (b. 1931), who, for over five decades starting in the 1970s, devoted her life to photographing and defending the Yanomami, one of Brazil’s largest indigenous peoples. Marie Gomis-Trezise, Curator and Founder of Galerie Gomis, says: “Paulino’s work is a love letter to the Amazon and its communities. The images present the people of the Amazon as they live today – far from the anthropological gaze often seen in Western portrayals.”
Echoes Of The Amazon is another fantastic offering from Galerie Gomis, a rising independent curatorial platform dedicated to supporting artists from Africa, its diaspora and the Global South. Gomis-Trezise is committed to cultural dialogue; recent exhibitions from the gallery include New Suns by David Ụzọchukwu; Global Muses, a tribute to female artists worldwide; and Future Gaze, foregrounding emerging African photographers. The bottom line: this show succeeds in communicating the urgency of environmental preservation in the Amazon, whilst maintaining a hopeful and forward-looking vision for the future.
Gleeson Paulino: Echoes Of The Amazon is at Sheriff Gallery, Paris, until 2 May 2025.
Image Credits:
1. Gleeson Paulino, Oracle Das Correntes, Manaus, (2018). Courtesy of Galerie Gomis.
2. Gleeson Paulino, Untitled, Acre, (2023). Courtesy of Galerie Gomis.
3. Gleeson Paulino, Brasa De Mantiquera, Camanducaia, (2023).
4. Gleeson Paulino, Pantaneiros, Pantanal, (2023). Courtesy of Galerie Gomis.
5. Gleeson Paulino, Eu Sou Eu Sou Eu, Manaus, (2019). Courtesy of Galerie Gomis.
