Contact
- +55 11 99783 9917
- shaffer001@gmail.com
- www.lightrapping.com
Experiences
2010-2018
The Call
2011
Everyone has a friend or acquaintance who’s somewhat difficult to reach. In spite of our sporadic, laborious contact attempts, we eventually managed to meet at a common friend’s place for the photos… And they had to have some iconic Rio view as a background.
Space Invaders
(They Came to Save Us)
2012
A contact leads to a little known place, that somehow symbolizes the changes undergoing in his life. Also an opportunity for a moment of recreation during the photo session.
Blending in with the City
2012
Marc had been struggling to get back for good to the city he loves so much. He agreed that this picture somehow depicts his will to merge back with the city.
The Architect
2012
An architect, passionate about his work, happens to visit Rio and to stay right in front of one of the most iconic buildings in town. The National Hotel was once part of a now failed and abandoned plan, by progessist architects and city planners like Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, to give Rio an entire new, more democratic face.
Heygate Johnny
2012
Johnny lives just a few blocks from a huge 1970’s housing project that was being demolished as part of a gentrification process happening in his area, in South London. That was the place he chose to be portrayed for sentimental reasons
Change Comes, Like a Thief in The Night
2012
Also a photographer, with interesting works in nude, Colton had never been on the other side of the lens. An interaction that was not just fun, but enlightening.
Tale of a City
2013
An activist, fighting for a greater participation of citizens in city planning, and a guy who happened to live right at the verge of the unchecked high rise developments that have been plaguing what was once a bucolic colonial town in Brazil.
A tale of dealing with the devil and the prices to be paid.
Nata Goiaba
2014
An architect visiting town for carnival. Access to a location in the once thriving, now abandoned city center and it’s high rises from past decades, now decaying.
This photo was the happy winner of the French Normal Magazine’s #07, Male Edition contest.
Pleasure Pier
2014
The exploration of a friend’s fetishes to be registered in photos led to the discovery of this secluded location in northeastern Brazil.
World Cup
2014
The innaugural match of 2014’s World Cup, that literally paralysed the country, was a perfect opportunity to explore possibilities of photographing in “impossible” places, like this 8-lane trhoughfare in Rio. Just add a buddy willing to be in those places and we’re all set.
The Stage
2015
The first day of 2015 marked the fulfilling of an old wish: to photograph in a theatre. Thanks to an unexpected contact with access to one of the main stages in my hometown this series was made.
Not a Gated Community
2015
A tourist visiting, interested in the project. A little trespassing, a few lights here and there. All very quick, before someone passes on the road behind us.
Gavea Tourist Hotel
2015
You eventually find about this huge building from the 1950’s that was supposed to be a luxury hotel, perched high in a mountain in Rio. All it takes is a couple of friends who share your passion for abandoned places, and lots of care to get to the top of it and have some images made.
Lightrapping in the Making
2015
In 2015 a short movie was made, inspired by the “Read the Profile” project. As I followed the cast and crew during the filming, I managed to get some of them to go through a little of the process involved in the project and had some images done between the movie shots.
Bodhi Tree
2016
In a trip to the US, I met Dirk, whose journey from coast to coast also led to a much more relevant inner journey. In his workplace serendipity did its trick and I found what might summarize his inner travels: this huge light tree that immediately related to our chats and the story of Buddha, carried by him in his huge back tattoo.
Tiergarten
2016
During a vacation trip, Oliver sent a message saying that he admired a lot my work but would never have the courage to do anything like that. A few days later we were crossing the city in a taxi, heading towards a liberating experience for him.
Eyeglasses, Between the Arch and the Abyss
2016
Contact with Edipo led to the discovery of natural wonders from my native state, both human and natural.
Eyes that Can't Behold
2016
Sometimes the new is right in front of us, but remains unseen. A moment of change and reflection.
Who Watches The Lurkers
2016
Abandoned places can be a kind of doorway to our unconscious or buried thoughts and wishes. By entering those places one may experience all sorts of sensations and let imagination run free. To some of us it may work as an independent territory, where the reins that usually bind our daily actions can be held a little looser. The reenactment of a game played by the subject in places like that was the theme for these photos, in an abandoned brewery in former East Berlin.
Brewery Ballroom
2016
Exploring fantasies and taking the game of seeing and being seen to another level amidst the chaos of what used to be a huge industrial installation.
Acrophobia
2017
To Marcio, the making of the photos was an important moment, part of an ongoing process of overcoming a pathological fear of heights.
Danger Series
2017
A series involving many subjects, inspired by the many dangers and setbacks that have risen against the progessive sectors of Brazilian (not to say global) society, particularly against the gay community.
Venus as a Boy
2017
Dealing with the feeling of belonging to a place you chose to live and the oneness with the natural beauties that surround it.
Rebirth, renewal and the celebration of the joys hidden in simple things, like the landscape that surrounds us.
White Clouds
2018
Overcoming many fears and inhibitions, comes the liberating feeling of surrendering to something you wished for a long time. Like an eletrical discharge that has been building up, waiting to happen…
Playing Cat and Mouse
2018
– “It is possible to shoot on the rooftop, but a genitor needs to be present all the time…”
(Thinking emoji)
– Ok!
Rumbo al Sur
2018
Chance once more doing its work, in what should be only an exploratory excursion for future photos.
The Long And Darkening Road
2018
The more I talked with Luís about the situations we might portray in the photos, the more it all looked to me like a metaphor for the times we are living in Brazil.
Ideas revolving around situations of helplessness, isolation, and imminent danger. Being overpowered by forces one doesn’t control or even fully understand.
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Contact
Where you can find me shaffer001@gmail.com