Mauricio de Paiva

Mauricio de Paiva is a documentary photographer and independent visual artist dedicated to archeology and heritage education, human rights, and deep socio-environmental issues, with emphasis on traditional communities of the Pan-Amazon Basin.

He is a collaborator of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo (MAE/USP), the Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará, and the Laboratory of Environmental and Evolutionary Archeology and Anthropology of the Institute of Biosciences at USP.

He follows bioanthropological and archaeological expeditions in partnership with several academic institutions. Since 2004, he has collaborated with National Geographic Brazil and Portugal, and has published dozens of reports for the magazine and website.

As a photojournalist, he produced content for newspapers such as Folha de São Paulo, El País Brasil, and Le Monde. He publishes for the agency Mongabay Brasil and for the scientific magazines Revista Fapesp, Scientific American, and Dossiers d'Archéologie.

He has been researching and reporting on the Amazon for 16 years, developing narratives with visual anthropology and archeological heritage perspectives in the company of caboclos, riverbank dwellers, and renowned researchers such as Michael Heckenberger, Stephen Rostain, and Eduardo Góes Neves.

He seeks to connect and understand how current ways of life reflect the pre-colonial past. He has published three books: Amazônia Antiga (2009); Futebol na Amazônia, Imagem e Alarido (2012); and Rufar dos Tambores Encontros Afroamapaenses (2013). He has held several exhibitions, including Foto_Arqueologia – “Que Fica Na Amazônia: sítios_vestígios_andejos ribeirinhos,” with IPHAN (2020); “Ancient Cermics from the Mouth of Amazon,” at the Denver Art Museum; and “Precieux Poison D'Amazonie,” at the Musée Dobrée de Nantes, France (2019).

Currently, he acts as filmmaker and director of photography for thematic audiovisuals on the Amazon.