Ashaninka Photography Workshop

Ashaninka Photography Workshop is a photography education project carried out in the Ashaninka do Rio Amônia indigenous community, located in the Brazilian Amazon, on the border with Peru.

The project was developed based on the demand of Ashaninka leaders, who saw photography as a powerful tool to be incorporated into their culture. With this training, they intended to create a collection of images through their own perspective that can be used for the cultural education of young Ashaninkas, for the defense of their territory and their culture and for their communication with other ethnic groups and with the non-indigenous world.

The workshop methodology was developed so that the knowledge acquired by students could be culturally appropriated. The teaching was done in a way that it allowed an education of the gaze, providing an understanding of the basic principles of light and image formation. The workshops dynamics included construction of handcrafted cameras using elements of the Ashaninka culture, photographic processes using natural pigments and drawings with photo developer on photographic paper. These analog photography program was elaborated and applied in the field with the collaboration of the photographer and educator Miguel Chikaoka in 2017.

The 2018 digital photography workshop was held from a crowdfunding campaign. In it, students worked with media processes and learned workflows on community-defined guidelines. Equipment such as digital cameras and laptops were donated. The workshop was assisted by the photojournalist João Roberto Ripper in the elaboration of the methodology and in the field work.

Analog Workshops

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Construção de câmeras obscuras utilizando caixas pretas construídas à mão / Construction of camera obscuras using hand-built black boxes.

Fotografia pinhole e descrição das imagens fotografadas. / Pinhole photography and description of the images photographed.

Fotografias pinhole. / Pinhole photographs.

Fotografia pinhole de médio formato - exercício de retratos. / Medium format pinhole photography - portrait exercise.

Fotografia pinhole e a "descrição" da imagem. / Pinhole photography and the "description" of the image.

Vídeo processo do Pincel de Luz. / Light Brush process video.

Exercício pincel de luz com química reveladora sobre papel fotográfico. / Light brush exercise with revealing chemistry on photographic paper.

Vídeo processo da Antotipia. / Anthotype process video.

Antotipia - Imagem fotográfica feita com pigmento natural. / Anthotype - Photographic image made with natural pigment.

Digital Workshops

O fotógrafo João Roberto Ripper ensinando Thokiriyari. / Photographer João Roberto Ripper teaching Thokiriyari.

Alunos Ashaninka fotografando sua cultura. / Ashaninka students photographing their culture.

Exercício de documentação da escola Ashaninka. / Ashaninka school documentation exercise.

Aluno Ashaninka manuseanda câmera digital durante os exercícios. / Ashaninka student handles a digital camera during exercises.

Edição de fotografias e catalogação das imagens / Photo editing and image cataloging

Varal fotográfico exibindo os trabalhos dos alunos na comunidade. / Photographic clothesline displaying the work of students in the community.

Ashaninka Photography Workshop project

Idealization | Coordenation | Photography

Pedro Kuperman

Production | Photography

Jaqueline Todescato

Technical and Pedagogical Consultancy

Miguel Chikaoka

Orientation I Pedagogical Consulting

João Roberto Ripper

Ashaninka Photography Workshop Video

Direction and Side Camera

Pedro Kuperman

Script and Editing

Thomas Mendel

Photography and Sound

Jaqueline Todescato