Born in 1977, Maputo, Mozambique.
Lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique.
Filipe Branquinho grew up during the Mozambican Civil War in an environment closely connected to the worlds of journalism and the arts. He became particularly sensitive to images through contact with some of the most important figures in Mozambican photography, such as Ricardo Rangel, Kok Nam, and José Cabral. Branquinho first studied architecture in Mozambique and then in Brazil, where he began a self-taught exploration of photography and art.
Branquinho addresses issues of social content focused on the reality of Mozambique, especially the ways of life of its population, its mythologies, and its urban dynamics. In his practice, he explores themes such as class difference, culture, politics, collective memory, and working conditions. His style combines his architectural background with his familiarity with the “school” of Mozambican photography, fusing genres such as portrait and landscape. Large-format portraits, in which models pose in their environments of work or residence, are a hallmark of his practice. These works function both as individual portraits and as surveys or inventories of social spaces and architecture. He suggests personal stories and outlines a documentary mapping of a changing African world, while deliberately resisting any expectation of exoticism. In 2013, he was selected as a finalist for the BES Photo Award with the Showtime series. With Interior Landscapes (2011–2014), he won the POPCAP’15 – International Prize for Contemporary African Photography.
The photographic project titled Occupations began in early 2011. This series of images was produced in Mozambican cities in order to capture their spirit through architecture, landscape, and their inhabitants. The focus of this work is a particular social group that represents the majority and is present throughout the urban fabric: in large cities, suburbs, coastal zones, and gated communities. Each photograph is unique and seeks to dignify the subject in the act of their occupation and in their relationship with the space they inhabit. In this body of work, cities are revealed through the light that surrounds them, their color palettes, and the histories of the people who live there.
