Lives and works in Amazônia, Brazil.
Ana Mendes is 37 years old, artist, documentary filmmaker and holds a master’s degree in Social Sciences. She works as a multimedia photojournalist in Brazilian media outlets, such as Repórter Brasil, Amazônia Real, Agência Pública, The Intercept Brasil and National Geographic Brasil. She collaborates with the main indigenous and indigenist organizations in Brazil, such as APIB (Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil), ISA (Socio-Environmental Institute) and CIMI (Indigenous Missionary Council). Internationally she has published in GK (Ecuador), Neus Deutschland (Germany) and the Washington Post (USA).
Ana has worked and lived for years in the Brazilian Amazon, developing multimedia projects – photography, video and text – on the struggle for rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities. With her work, therefore, she acts in defense of these populations and in favor of human rights agendas in general.
At the university, she researches racism against the Akroá Gamella indigenous people, a self-declared population living in the state of Maranhão.
Her images on indigenous peoples make up the collections of the ISA, CIMI and the Museum of the State of Pará (MEP).
In 2019, the essay Pseudo Indigenous, which portrays the Guarani-Kaiowá and Akroá Gamella peoples was the winner of one of the most important national photography awards, the Pierre Verger National Photography Award.
In 2021 the same essay won the Open Call IANDE X Photo Doc : A Look at Brazil, during the Les Recontres d’Arles festival, in France. And it was exhibited at Galerie Basia Embiricos, in Paris, during Paris Photo.
“ Fotografia Transformada – Encontro”, 2020. Duration 6’44”
“ Emergência étnica e novas referências na fotografia”, 2020. Duration 85’02”
“ FFP Online #28 • Ana Mendes, Ingrid Barros e Andressa Zumpano | Fest. de Fotografia de Paranapiacaba”, 2020. Duration 75’35”
“ Festival Everyday Brasil – Representatividade na fotografia documental”, 2021. Duration 115’58”
“ Conheça Ana Mendes – Mostra de Arte Aberta de Porto Alegre”, 2021. Duration 1’52”
“ Os fotógrafos maranhenses, Ana Mendes e Marcio Vansconcelos, vencem o Premio Pierre Verger de 2019.”, 2022. Duration 3’39”
