Intro

First of all, pardon my English. Okay, you may say it’s pretty good, and for that I say “Thank you, you’re so kind!”, but there will be a lot of mistakes, and for them I apologize. This language can be very tricky sometimes, y’know? And feel free to correct me, if you want, it won’t make me feel bad. That said, here we go…

Update: I’m sorry, but I gave up on the idea of publishing this blog in English. My public is in Brazil, and the stories are about Brazil, and translating was taking more than twice as long.

Back: once upon a time… actually, 2002, I started a blog called “Na Rua”, which means “On The Street”. I had just started taking photographs, and the idea of being a photojournalist was just a tiny seed. The blog came up as the energy this seed needed to grow up. My first posts showed a little bit of the 3rd World Social Forum, which I was all amazed about. All those people trying to change the world seemed like a dream coming true. I was still on my first year at the Journalism School. So, I started this blog. And I tried to make contacts, meet some people, get into this whole new world (journalism, photography, blog and activism were all new to me).

Since then, this has been my second home. Like I said, the seed has been growing, and I’ve grown together with it. It’s like a litlle kid to me, who grows up, but without ever forgetting his childish, curious eyes. I’m not sure if the comparisions are apropriate, but that’s the way I see it. And all these changes i’ve made during these 5 years actually reflect changes in my own personality, my own point of view.

Photography is now more than just a hobby to me, and my head is like one of those whistling kettles, you know? This is the whistle, a voice through which I say out loud to the world why I’m here and what I want.In the beginning, I wasn’t sure I should add the subtitle “Photography + Activism”, fearing that I could sound pretentious. I know that by now the content may not reflect all these big things I’m saying here, but one day it will. This is more about intentions than the reality. It’s more about what I pursue than what I do. And what I pursue? I want this to be a place for this kind of photography (and also writing) in which I believe: compromised, but not partisan, sincere and optimistic. So please come on in and take a look. Alright, sounds pretentious, right? Well, dices were thrown, let’s see…

Behind the Camera

I usually dislike talking about myself. According to my parents’ will, I’m Paulo Marcelo Fehlauer, born on the 15th day of the year 1982 in a little country town called Marechal Cândido Rondon, state of Paraná, Brazil.

On January 15th, we celebrate (and I just learned that) the Adult Day and the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which pleases me much more than the first one. Since this one day, while Brazil was still under a dictatorial military government, I became this constantly under construction personality. I’m still surprised by all the things I’ve already believed in, but I won’t deny I’m kind of proud about it.

I believe frustrations, despite the pain, have a lot to teach us. It was after one of them that I found journalism, and then photography. Since then, I started to believe that I have something to say, that the world I see could serve as an example to the world itself. Pretentious again…One day, for love and a bunch of other reasons (or maybe excuses), I went to the country I’d always criticized. Now, when I think of it, I realize how important this experience has been to me. I’ll still blame this country forever, but I think now I can blame it with consistency, without all the prejudice I had before. And now I know I can also blame others, those ones who keep blaming 24/7. And well, I’ve learned much more than any school could teach me, so it’s worth it, a lot! Now I’m back to my country, and I realize I have a whole new world to discover.

For my photography work, check out www.paulofehlauer.com, my portfolio. Thanks!

Street: Inspiration

What really inspired me was a text, written in 1905 by a brazilian dandy/writer, João do Rio, but as far as I know, there’s no official translation of this text, so I won’t take the chance right now. But it says something about the street, the power it has, something like “there’s human sweat in its amalgam… Each house that’s built is made of the exaustive efforts of lots of human beings… it feels in its nerves the misery of creation, and that’s why it’s the most equalitarian of human works… no one can live without the consent of the street…”

That was a totally unofficial attempt to translate this text, but it gives an idea.

narua.org wants to be like a virtual street, inspired by João do Rio’s amazed eyes while he wandered around the streets of 19th century Rio de Janeiro. narua.org pursues a political, curious, joyful, upset and conscious look, all at the same time.Or something like that…

Acknowledgements (I love this word)

The idea, design, programming and content, unless when specified, are all mine, but none of this would ever happen without “a little help from my friends”. So, here are a few THANK YOUs: to the anonymous programmers who spend night and day thinking of these miraculous little pieces of code, and who also spread them freely through the web; to all my friends who have been following my work since the beginning, and always encouraged me to keep going; to Vilago, my webhost, for the technical support; to lots of photographers and designers from whom I gently “stealed” ideas to create this project; to all the subjects of my photos - known and unknown, consented and unconsented - who are the raison d’être of this website. And, to end all this talking, my deep and sincere THANKS to my Paula, my love, my inspiration (and transpiration, too), for all the love and attention dedicated to me everyday, for believing in me much more than I do myself. And thank YOU for reading all this, I can’t believe you made it! Thank you, sincerely!