Visual artist Mário Macilau captures social and environmental challenges in Mozambique. Born and raised in the capital of Maputo, Macilau, 38, says photography is the "language" he chooses to express himself and what he sees around him.
Macilau says he discovered photography after Mozambique's civil war (which lasted from 1977 to 1992) when he watched journalists descend on his hometown. He recalls being fascinated by their polaroid cameras and quickly falling in love with the artform. "It was not about keeping the films. It was about the pleasure that I had when I shoot. It was about the sound of the camera, (it) was about the photo processing," he said.
Growing up, Macilau worked a series of jobs to help support his family, mainly because "I never thought that (being a) photographer could be something that can give me money." He eventually turned photography into a career in 2007 when he swapped his mother's cell phone for a camera. Still, Macilau says the journey to become an award-winning photographer wasn't easy. "Sometimes you can work very hard for many years, and nothing happened in your life. And sometimes you are thinking about giving up," he says. "So, at the moment I was thinking about giving up, (that's) when I started to have my work recognized." One of Macilau's more recent series, "The Dry River," (pictured) focuses on the lack of access to clean water in Mozambique. For this series, Macilau collaborated with the NGO WaterAid to travel north to the district of Niassa, to see how rural communities there struggle to provide basic needs.
For Macilau, taking photos is about more than capturing a moment in time -- it's about telling a story. To do that, he often spends time getting to know his subjects before photographing them. "You can't point your camera from a distance (toward) people and say you're a storyteller," he says.
Macilau spent three years shooting "The Profit Corner" at a municipal dumpsite in Maputo. The series highlights the environmental issues and humanizes people who work and live near the junkyard. "When we look at them, we don't look at them like as humans, we look at them as a stranger," he says. "We (are) discriminating (against) them every day, so I use photography as (a) tool that brings light to these people." Macilau says the man pictured here lives near the dump. He recalls the man's reaction when he found the lamp he's holding: "He was so happy because in the place where he lives there's no electricity, there's no water, there's no housing -- basically there's no infrastructure." Pictured: "Untitled," The Profit Corner Series (2015).
In 2018, Macilau published his "Faith Series," where he explored how Mozambicans preserve their traditional religious rituals. He says it's important to capture these moments to "analyze or to see how the religion changed with the passage of time." Macilau notes he shot "Two Boys with a Fish" (pictured) to help paint a picture of the scene that was unfolding on the beach. "I'm not focusing specifically about the religion," he says, "I'm focusing about what can happen in the same space." In this instance, he says the kids could have been on the beach to "catch a fish, to sell fish, to play, or ... going there to pray."
Macilau says one challenge of his creative process is capturing a moment in real-time. The photographer says he asks for his subjects' permission when taking their photo, even though he runs the risk of having the moment pass. He explains, "when you see a very beautiful and amazing photograph ... by the time that model or that person (agrees you can) shoot, what you saw is gone." Pictured: "Untitled", The Profit Corner Series (2016).
Macilau initially shot in color, but says he prefers to develop his photos in black and white. "Color used to steal what is the intention behind my work," he says, while the black and white images are "more poetic." Pictured: "Tyres on Fire," The Profit Corner Series (2015).
Macilau's haunting imagery and powerful messages have catapulted him onto the world stage. His photographs have been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions around the world including in Lisbon, London, and New York City. Macilau was also a finalist for the UNICEF Photo of the Year in 2009 and his "Profit Corner Series" earned him a spot on the shortlist of the Greenpeace Photo Award. Pictured: "Untitled (2)," The Profit Corner Series (2016).
Macilau says he hopes his photos will inspire others to question society and take action to improve both the world around them and the relationships we have with others. "What matters more is ... that (humans are) respecting each other and how they look at each other without any judgment." Pictured: "Lamp on Hands," The Profit Corner Series (2015).
