Photography: AF94S

Tell us a little bit about yourself!
My name is AF94S, I am the CTRS crew photographer. I started in photography five years ago, exploring the streets of São Paulo and several abandoned places. I’ve been involved with the vandalism world since 2008, pixando, following and recording pixações by the city of São Paulo. But it’s been a year since I joined the graffiti world on the subway.

Where do you live? 
São Paulo, Brasil

How did you get into photography? 
I started in photography after seeing a long exposure photo. I looked for this technique on the internet, learned some things and went to the street to practice, with a simple camera that I had. From there, I never stopped.

How come you started photographing graffiti writers and the culture? 
I started shooting graffiti writers, because I lived a lot exploring abandoned places. And many here in Brazil paint in these places. And the social networks also helped in this, I met many by the media and we combined some exits by our city. But the bridge to all this, was the pixação.

Have you been involved in any other sub-culture and photographed it? 
Only pixação and graffiti

Tell us a story of when you followed a graffiti writer out on a mission? 
The craziest mission I ever experienced was to photograph the first whole-train ever painted in São Paulo. A mission that featured many crews and writers known within and outside Brazil. It was all very fast, we walked in and out without being seen. And in the end, I got good photos, which will eternalize this great moment lived by me, by the crew that I am part of and by the other writers.

Do you have any favorite photographers? 
Sebastião Salgado. Vivian Maier. Edward Nightingale

Do you have any other projects you work on?
At the moment, me and my crew are finishing preparations for a video that will be out soon on the internet. 

Who or what inspires you in photography? 
God, family and friends

Do you have photography as your profession?
Yes. 

What equipment do you use?
Digital: Nikon D3200 – 35mm f/2
Analog: Canon EOS 5000 – 50mm f/1.8 + Leica Mini Zoom

Three words that describe your photographs? 
Life. Atmosphere. Feeling. 

Do you have any future projects going on? 
At the moment I am planning some prints with some photos of me and a fanzine.

Do you have any favorite city in the world and why? 
Paris. For having one of the subway systems I find most beautiful in the world. One day I will register writers there haha

Natural VS artificial light, which do you prefer working with? 
Natural light

What do you do when not taking pictures?
I’m studying about photography. 

What do you think of social media, give us your thoughts on the positive and negative side of it? 
On the plus side, we have quick and easy access to information and various content around the world. Not to mention the ease of having contact with people from other countries (how am i doing now), and being able to share my work. The downside, is that many people are giving up living their lives, being manipulated, absorbing false information. Living locked in their house, giving themselves totally to social media, instead of living and seeing the real world out here. Everything has a limit.

FIVE FAVORITES
Camera: Leica 
Digital/Analog: Analog, but I use mostly digital because in Brazil it is cheaper
Type of photo location: Street / Subway 
Lighting: Natural 
City: São Paulo