Second Place - Artistic Merit Ricardo Teles Brazil
“The Kamayura´s creation myth tells about a magic bird which, in a dispute with a tribesman, threw up the water that formed the lake and also buried the residents. Since then, it has become an enchanted place, and its water and plants a source of strength for the Kamayurás.”
Ricardo has won 2nd place in the Artistic Merit category of the Sinchi 2018 Photo Competition.
Ricardo Teles is a freelance photographer, born in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. He has been working in Sao Paulo city since 1994 as a photojournalist, who contributed to the Estado de Sao Paulo Group, agency and newspapers, from 1996 to 2000.
Nowadays, as a freelancer, his work has been published in several national and international magazines, such as Der Spiegel (Germany) and National Geographic Brazil. The photographer’s work has been exhibited in different capitals of Brazil, in Africa, Europe and the USA.
2ND PLACE ARTISTIC MERIT- Ricardo Teles. In Xingu, midwest Brazil, the largest indigenous reserve in the world,
the Kamayurás begin to walk towards Ypawu lake for their first bathing before
sunrise.
Several bathing sessions are going to be repeated daily until sunset.
These waters are a link to their ancestors and keeping them pure is a sacred
ritual.
The lake is their most important source of food, and also the essence of their
culture.
The Kamayura´s creation myth tells about a magic bird which, in a dispute with a
tribesman, threw up the water that formed the lake and also buried the residents.
Since then, it has become an enchanted place, and its water and plants a source
of strenght for the Kamayurás.
Once a year, the tribe holds the Kuarup, a festival in honor to the dead. All
neighboring tribes are welcomed to their territory on this occasion. The "great
spirits" are invoked to make sure there will be enough food for all the guests
during the big fishing expeditions to Iananpau lake, which has remained
untouched since the previous year´s celebrations and is bursting with life.
