Terra Viva -Living Earth- is a series of photographic images taken with 35mm film in color, Brazil, 2023-2024.

The state of Rio Grande do Sul contains a part of the Atlantic Rainforest- a tropical ecosystem on the coast of Brazil, rich in biodiversity and home to many species of wildlife. Healthy forests like these act as a carbon sink hotspot, sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere and giving oxygen in return, and helping mitigate effects of climate change. However, in recent years, Brazil has been heavily affected by natural disasters caused by climate change, affecting socio-economic structures and the lives of many people. Additionally, human behavior such as clearing out land for cattle grazing for beef production are causing rapid deforestation and degradation of soil health.

During my visit, I encountered people living in harmony with nature, simply respecting their surrounding environment. Terra - the land, the earth - can sometimes affect us humans in forms such as floods and wildfires, a destructive and enormous power that we can not control. Yet it provides us with life, growth, and fertility. As our world shifts through political rampants and chaos, there is a desperate call for people to recognize and respect the land itself in its inherent value. These documented photographs aims to show the intricate ecosystems and beauty of the natural world, as well as our ability to coexist with it. I hope that we can embrace human interconnectedness as a part of the natural world, and feel a responsibility to respect, protect, and fight for our planet.