Biography:
I am André Vieira, a Brazilian visual storyteller and journalist based in Portugal. I am honored to be a 2023 National Geographic Explorer for Storytelling. My work focuses on the vital relationship between humans and the natural world at a...
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Vilarinho Seco, December 14th, 2019 - Elias Coelho (left) serves homemade bread to his family and neighbors after they all spent the morning slaughtering pigs outside his home in Vilarinho Seco. Every year, at the beginning of the winter, residents of villages in the Barroso region slaughter pigs to make ham and sausages that feed them all through the year. The slaughter is a community event, with neighbors and friends coming to help with the killing, dismembering the animals, and preparing the meat to smoke. In the end, the host treats them to a feast Vilarinho Seco Portugal
Portugal, Vilarinho Seco, 2019/05/03. Residents in Vilarinho Seco, one of the oldest villages in the Barroso region, sing and drink after participating in a religious procession celebrating the Holy Cross. Catholic celebrations dictate part of the rhythm of life in the Barroso, with festivals and liturgical rites marking every important agriculture cycle. Photograph by Andre Vieira Vilarinho Seco Portugal
Portugal, Covas do Barroso, 2021/08/28 - Maria Eutília Gonçalo Fernandes (left) serves snacks for the neighbors who showed up to help her harvest her potatoes. It’s a tradition of the Barroso region that residents help each other with farm work and pool the use of machines, especially during harvest season, which requires many people and resources. Photograph by Andre Viera. Covas do Barroso Portugal
Portugal, Covas do Barroso, 2021/10/24 - Daniel Loureiro, helped by his granddaughter Silvia, steps on grapes to make wine at a shed beside his home. The wine will be consumed by his family throughout the year and used to marinate pork meat used in the manufacture of sausages. Residents of the villages in the Barroso region produce much of what they eat. Photograph by Andre Viera. Covas do Barroso Portugal
Portugal, Covas do Barroso, 2021/08/28 - Clothes hanging to dry outside a house in Covas do Barroso. In the distance are the mountains that might contain one of the largest deposits of lithium in Portugal. Photograph by Andre Viera. Covas do Barroso Portugal
Portugal, Vilarinho Seco, 2019/03/22. Dogs and residents enjoy the morning sun in the main square in Vilarinho Seco, one of the oldest villages in the Barroso region. Photograph by Andre Vieira Vilarinho Seco Portugal
Portugal, Vilarinho Seco, 2019/05/03. Agostinho Gomes, a farmer, prepares to let his cows outside to graze. The unique farming system of the Barroso region prompted the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to award the Barroso a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designation. Photograph by Andre Vieira Vilarinho Seco Portugal
Elias Coelho (right), chats with a visiting relative of a neighbor and her son in the streets of Vilarinho Seco as a group of cows arrive from the fields Boticas Portugal
Gilvan Olimpio (red cardigan), 17, Jean de Almeida Santana (green hoodie), 19 and Renato Santos, 18, are actors at an amateur threater group in Jardim ¬ngela, one of the most violent suburbs of S„o Paulo. The three are the entire gay scene of their neighborhood, but they claim to suffer no prejudice because of the sexual orientation. All three live with their parents in low income homes. S„o Paulo Brazil
Family of Carlos Eduardo Magalhães, who used to work selling water and sodas at the beach, but now spends his days idly at home after seriously hurting his knee in an accident. Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Improvisation night at Cafofo da Nêga, a theater and bar in Vidigal where the local cultural scene meets for plays and parties. Several actors from Vidigal, formed in Nós do Morro, a local tuition-free acting school, went on to play leading roles in popular Brazilian soap operas and movies, among them the international hit City of God, and became famous. Most still live there Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Happy hour on the roof of Lx Factory, a historical industrial complex housing an array businesses, arty retailers, restaurants and bars very popular with both locals and tourists Lisboa Portugal
Lx Factory, a historical industrial complex housing an array businesses, arty retailers, restaurants and bars very popular with both locals and tourists Lisboa Portugal
Practice day for the Grupo de Forcados de Santarém at the cattle ranch of a former group member in the Ribatejo region of Portugal Salvaterra de Magos Portugal
Current and former members of the Grupo de Forcados de Santarém, with their families and friends, gather for the group's annual celebration at Herdade da Sesmaria, a cattle ranch in the Ribatejo region of Portugal. Before the barbecue and celebrations, the forcados practice and guests help grab young cows to be marked with hot iron Branca Portugal
Alturas do Barroso, October 23rd, 2021 - The village of Alturas do Barroso in the mountains of the Barroso region of Portugal. In 2019 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations awarded the Barroso region a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designation, the second region to be awarded it in Europe. The GIAHS designation gives recognition to areas that “are resilient systems characterized by remarkable agrobiodiversity, traditional knowledge, invaluable cultures, and landscapes, sustainably managed by farmers, herders, fisherfolk, and forest people in ways that contribute to their livelihoods and food security". In 2020 the Portuguese government announced plans to give a large number of mining concessions to companies interested in exploiting mineral deposits in the region, especially lithium Alturas do Barroso Portugal
Portugal, Casével, 2022/02/04. The ruins of the Casével train station along the Neves - Corvo railroad branch of the Alentejo railway line. Train services on the rail branch, which serves a largely rural and impoverished area, were discontinued in 2012. Alentejo is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change in Europe. It lost almost 7% of its residents in the last decade. Photograph by André Vieira. Casevel Portugal
Portugal, Castro Verde, 2022/02/03. An empty animal feed bag lies by a fence on the edge of a dry field in the Herdade das Sorraias, a rural property in the Campo Branco sub-region of Alentejo. A severe drought is afflicting Portugal. It is particularly acute in its Alentejo region, which studies show can become a desert because of climate change. Photograph by André Vieira. Castro Verde Portugal
Portugal, Castro Verde, 2022/02/03. António Lúcio, a farmer in the Campo Branco sub-region of Alentejo, stands on the dry bed of a stream that crosses his property, the Herdade das Sorraias. A severe drought is afflicting Portugal. It is particularly acute in its Alentejo region, which studies show can become a desert because of climate change. Photograph by André Vieira. Castro Verde Portugal
Portugal, Covas do Barroso, 2021/06/22 - Aida Fernandes at a waterfall that lies inside the perimeter of the lithium mine the British company Savannah wants to make in her village. Aida is one of the leaders of a group of residents fighting the construction of the mine. The waterfall belongs to a property owned by her father and her brother, both enthusiastic supporters of the mine. Photograph by Andre Viera. Covas do Barroso Portugal