Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1953.
Lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
João Roberto Ripper works as a freelance photographer and conducts photography workshops in the whole country (Brazil).
Graduated in Journalism at the Hélio Alonso School of Communication in Rio de Janeiro, worked for the ‘carioca'(from Rio de Janeiro) newspapers O Globo, Última Hora, Luta Democrática and Diário de Notícias. Participated in the F4, one of the first independent photo agencies in Brazil. He created the NGO “Imagens da Terra”, whose proposal was to put the photography in the service of human rights. Founder of Project “Images Humanas”, an Agency-School of Popular Photographers at the NGO Observatório de Favelas do Rio de Janeiro, located in the complex of slums of Maré. Today more than 40 former students from Rio favelas get theirs livings as photographers.
Since 2011 Ripper has developed the workshop entitled “Bem-querer” (Good will) which examines the work of humanistic photographers and their importance in breaking down of stereotypes and the use of photography as a tool for social transformation.
Work Identification – photos from “Love with the Life” series
All images have fine arts quality with mineral pigment on Hahnemühle Professional Cotton 305g paper in specified sizes 55×36, 7cm image (2×3 ratio) plus 2.5 cm margin all around, totaling 60×41, 7cm e55x30, 94cm image (proportion 9×16) plus 2.5 cm margin all around, totaling 60×35, 94cm.
Individual Exhibitions
2010
-“Mulheres Entre Luzes e Sombras (Women Between Lights and Shadows)”, Project of IPAS (Institute which defends the reproductive rights of women), supported by the Secretaria de políticas para Mulheres do Governo Federal (Secretariat for Women’s Policy of the Federal Government) and the United Nations, exhibition held at the National Congress in Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil, curated by Dante Gastaldoni.
-“Imagens Humanas”, Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo,Photos at the Itaú and Pirelli collections, São Paulo, Brazil.
2009
-“Imagens Humanas”, Centro Cultural da Caixa Econômica Federal of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília, Salvador and Curitiba, Brazil.
2005
-“Slave Work”, Pitshanger Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Pinacoteca of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
2003
-“Faces and Names of Slavery”, Fórum Social Mundial, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
1999
-“Renascer”, Exhibition on recovery of girls who are victims of violence, Natal city, Brazil.
1998
-Bienal Internacional de Fotografia de Curitiba, Curitiba, Brazil.
1997
-“Massacre of Carajás”, United Nations Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
-“Slave Work and Child Labour”, Rio de Janeiro Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
-“Land (permanent exhibition), Museu da República, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
-“Contacts and Clashes: Landless Indians of Mato Grosso do Sul”, Aliança Francesa, Quito, Ecuador.
1996
-“Health & Citizenship”, Carioca subway station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1995
-Museu da Imagem e do Som, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1995 – 2002
-35 itinerant exhibitions in Brazil and France. Subject: “Child Exploitation: Education through Images”, Project coordinated by Roberto Novaes, supported by The Instituto de Economia da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in partnership with local organizations (MST, Fase, Idaco, ActionAid – Sesc Itaquera and Municipal Administrations).
1992
-“Landless Indigenous People”, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil.
Group Exhibitions
2011 – 2012
-“Of Gold and Feathers – Exchange and Value systems in Brazil”, exhibition on gold mining in Amazon at The National Bank of Belgium as part of the Europalia.Brasil.
1996
-“Imagens da Terra”, World Trade Center, New York, USA.
1995
-“Imagens da Terra”, FUNARTE, Multivisão.
1992
-“Imagens da Terra”, Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
-“Imagens da Terra”, Varig Gallery, New York, USA.
-“Brasil”, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil.
-“Fotografia Brasileira Contemporânea (Brazilian Contemporary photography)”, FUNARTE, INFOTO.
1989
-“F4 Retrospective – Photojournalism in the 80s”, Museu da Imagem e do Som of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
1988
-“Coletiva de Fotógrafos Brasileiros (Brazilian Photographers Collective)”, Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro (MAM RJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Exhibitions accompanied by lectures
2005
-“Slave work”, Comunidade Anarco Punk, Favela da Maré, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2001
-“Imagens Humanas”, Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1999
-“Human Rights”, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil.
1997
-International Congress of Journalists of Portuguese Language, Lisbon, Portugal.
1996
-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Center For International Studies, Cambridge, USA.
1995
-Nebraska University, Lincoln, USA.
1994
-Colorado University, Boulder, USA.
-Denver University of Colorado, Denver, USA.
-Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco, USA.
-Rain Forest Network, San Francisco, USA.
Awards
-Photojournalism: Interpressphoto; Wladimir Herzog (awarded by Jornal dos Sem Terra for a series of stories on land conflicts in Brazil)
-International Ecology Prize IICC
-Cidade do Rio de Janeiro Prize
-Humans Rights: Social_Entrepreneur Prize (awarded by Fundação Ashoka for the documentation of Contemporary slavery in Brazil)
-Agenda Latino-Americana 1998 Prize (created by D. Pedro Casaldáliga and Father José Maria Vigil, Grupo Solidário São Domingos coordinator), for the combat to slave work in Brazil during 2002 and 2003.
-Prêmio João Canuto, Tribute of the NGO “Humanos Direitos” for the work in human rights and the combat to slave work in Brazil, 2004.
-Cultural area: Prêmio Nacional de Fotografia of Fundação Nacional de Arte and Instituto Nacional de Fotografia;
-Conrad Wessel 2010 Prize, Second place
-Marc Ferrez Prize, FUNARTE 2010
Books
2012
-“Isoladas – A história de oito mulheres criminalizadas por aborto (Isolated – The story of eight women criminalized for abortion)”, texts of Evanize Sydow e Beatriz Galli.
2010
-“Retrato Escravo (Slave Portrait)”, Editora Tempo D’Imagem.
2009
-“Imagens Humanas”, Dona Rosa Produções, a retrospective of the work of João Roberto Ripper.
João Roberto Ripper-
My professional proposal is to put my work in the service of people and communities that I photograph. That’s what I call “shared picture” where the people photographed know what I’m doing, the reason I am doing and participate in the process. I try to produce images not only of people but with people, seeking a common look. I also try to combat the unique information that leads to stereotyping. The danger of unique information is not necessarily that it is lying, but that it will transform people’s lives and stories of communities and even countries in a single story, as it was the only possible interpretation of the truth. As an example, I can quote the majority view that society receives on the slums, with consistent emphasis on violence and absence. This is repeated in agrarian, indigenous and black community issues. One of the omitted information is the beauty and dignity that widely exist in all these communities. I try to create a bond of good will among the people I photograph and society in general.
