Is Facebook your friend? / O Facebook é seu amigo?

Posted on 28/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

Pinhole photo of a computer / Foto de um computador tirada com uma pinhole

EN/ Is Facebook your friend?

This year I questioned myself about the way we collect friends on Facebook, and what are the real importance of keeping them. From long time ago, I’ve always been the type that deletes people who I added because I met through a friend or colleague, but did not remain in my life. But now I took it to another level.

I began to question myself why I still had those classmates, I barely spoke at school, and had acquaintances who only saw twice in his life and all of them I never really cared (and neither them) to stay in touch. So I started to “clean up” my friend’s list, passing through filters that I created, such as:

– Have I talked with this person over the past 5 years?
– Have I met that person in the last 3 years?
– How many times I met that person after we first met?
– Was s/he part of some important moment of my life / my childhood?
– Do we have common interests or am I against the ways that person thinks and acts?
– Do we maintain some kind of virtual contact (likes, comments), even if we do not talk a lot?

According to the answers I delete or keep the person on my list, it seems very simple but sometimes by external influences I can’t get rid of a few. These are either someone present in my best friends, partner or family’s life. I realised that would be “rude” if I delete that person.

Something that bothers me a lot is to know that many people keeps me in friends list for imagining that one day, they may need me for something. Well, if you keep someone in your Facebook friends list thinking this way, you need to rethink what friendship really means.

If by reason of work contact, opportunities of whatever the purpose, for this they invented LinkdIn! People, make a profile on LinkedIn, the idea is to have there people whom you only have professional interests and that are not part of their circle of friends and neither are part of your personal life.

Especially for me Facebook has always been a very important tool to keep in touch with people who are far away. It’s the easiest way to group friends and family, share photos, ideas, events and messages in a way that everyone can see it. So I consider it something very intimate, and over time I’ve been noticing my selectivity about the content I share there. There were moments that I stopped myself from sharing for worrying about what people would think.

But hey, shouldn’t I have just people who knows me and won’t judge me? I noticed that I did not want to share my life with certain people, and so I started to use that filter.

Another measure that I’ve taken was to get some people I didn’t want to see their 10 selfies a day, 15 religious messages, and other stuff like that in my news feed, in a filter Facebook created called “Acquaintances”. When you put them there, you do not see their posts so often. And by contrast, I gathered my best friends in the list called “Best Friends” as Facebook prioritises posts from this list in my feed. There are a few more other tricks I use, but it would make another post here. If you are interested to know them, comment here and I’ll do another post.

I have also noticed my friends expressing the same questions by commenting:

“Honestly, for me I would delete all, would leave only 50 Facebook friends, I don’t like so many people seeing everything I post.”

“I need to do a clean up, a lot of unnecessary people”

“I have X person on Facebook just to laugh at what X posts, very ridiculous”

“Would rather not post this, not to cause discord”

We have control of selecting who we have, who sees what you post, etc. It’s all about using Facebook and tools to make it a healthy and positive experience, not a vain and futile circus exhibitionism, or a timid and neutral presence that makes the idea of being in a social network lose its meaning.

Tell me what you think about it, if you have been through the same situations.
Do you use these filters and tools?
How has your experience on Facebook been?

PT/ O Facebook é seu amigo?

Este ano eu comecei um sério questionamento sobre a forma que colecionamos amigos no Facebook, e qual a verdadeira importância de mantê-los. De tempos há tempos eu sempre fui do tipo que deletava as pessoas que havia adicionado por ter conhecido através de um amigo, ou colega, mas que não permaneceram na minha vida. Só que agora eu levei isso a um outro nível.

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Feminine Behaviours/Comportamentos Femininos

Posted on 21/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

EN/ Feminine Behaviours

In this post I intend to put together some behaviours that over the years I’ve been observing in women who live in London and compare them to the Brazilian women, questioning the way that Brazilians in general think about them.

1- Makeup

London – It is quite common to find women on the underground in the morning on their way to work doing their make up, or on the way back to go somewhere else. The ability is such that the movement of the train does not stop them, neither feel embarrassment when handling brushes and pencils among strangers.

Nice painting of girl doing make up/ Pintura legal de menina fazendo maquiagem.(Pinterest, ma-zaika.ru)

Brazil – I do not remember to see the last time I have been there, no women apply makeup from foundation to the eyelashes mascara on any public transport. The max I saw discreetly put lipstick, or maybe they do this in the comfort of their cars?

2- Nail polish

London – Here you do not have the habit of removing the cuticles, or to get a manicure every week, unless you get very well paid. It is quite expensive, and usually women here adhere to the “do it yourself” (DIY), painting nails at home, or on the subway (yes, indeed). When doing manicure, they get fake nails, decorated and coloured polish or gelly. Here the gel practice is a bit more affordable, costing around 20 pounds only for hands, which guarantees to last around 15 days. The funny thing is that because it is not easily removable, unless you go to the beauty salon, nails grow leaving a strip of natural nail color. Sometimes not only a stripe, more than that.

Brazil – There is in Brazil a search for impeccability of nails, no matter the income of women, many manage to do their nails with a certain frequency as with a 15 reais (depending on the area and salon), can you do your feet and hands. Many do it at home same, but different from Londoners, Brazilians care about the durability of the nail polish, and when they chip and reaches the fifth day, they get removed. It seems that there is a fear of seeing the unkempt fingernails, or to show that it’s time to revisit the salon. In London I see many chipped and poorly made nails, that sometimes only lasts the special event’s day.

Me this week, nail polish remover finished and I could only remove nail polish from one hand. Had to go out like this to buy more/ Eu essa semana, a acetona acabou e só deu pra tirar esmalte de uma mão. Tive que sair assim pra comprar mais.

3 – High Heels

London – Many women walk on heels on the very well levelled pathways of London, for going out, work, nightlife. If you take the subway in the morning peak hours, often see women with smart clothes matching her beautiful, TRAINERS! Yes, they go out with trainers, tights, skirt and social shirts, to extend comfort time.
They carry their heels in a plastic bag inside their hand bag, a pair of heels to change at work or on the underground, why not? Another moment shoes’ change is on return from pubs and clubs. They go out with flats and carry the heels in the bag or hands, exchanging it in the middle of the street, putting the flats in the bag and wearing high heels. It is easier to spot it on the way back, because they are already tired of suffering on heels, and at the first opportunity, jump down from their high heels and wear flats.

Brazil – Maximum I’ve witnessed were women walking wonky because he could not walk anymore (what I see in London too), or walking barefoot on the way back. I think it worth adhering the flats on the way back from a dancing night out or taking your trainers on the way to work. Comfort should come first, after all.

Well these are the first observations. Correct me if I’m out of date!

Could you apply makeup on the underground or bus?
How often do you do your nails?
Would you face going out with trainers wearing smart clothes?
How about the idea of taking flats in a bag to be able to take heels off?

PT/ Comportamentos Femininos

Nesse post pretendo juntar alguns comportamentos que ao longo dos anos eu venho observado nas mulheres que moram em Londres e compará-los aos das mulheres brasileiras, questionando a forma que brasileiros em geral pensam sobre os dois.

1- Maquiagem

Londres – É bem comum encontrar mulheres no metrô se maquiando no caminho pro trabalho de manhã, ou na volta dele pra ir em algum lugar. A habilidade é tanta que o balanço do trem não impede, muito menos têm vergonha de manusear pincéis e lápis entre pessoas desconhecidas.
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About Preferences/Sobre Preferências

Posted on 15/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

Baby me and my first cat, Bolinha (diminutive for ball) / Eu bebê e meu primeiro gato, Bolinha.

EN/ About Preferences, Part I

Fear and hate in general are feelings that arise from the unknown, if I dont grasp it, I fear it. There is also the possibility of fear to be the result of a bad experience in the past, a trauma. As a kid I never liked dogs, my mother says that one day, a huge dog of a friend, jumped on me and knocked down me when I was about 3 year olds. I just got to know this story years later, from complaining so much in the presence of any dog, she told me that.

I was always afraid, and avoided them, used it cross the street so I wouldnt be close, I never found any of them cute. If we were going to a house that I knew had a dog, I would suffer from anxiety in advance to imagine having to face a beast of those in the same room as me, or simply just at the entrance of the house.

From an early age I had contact with cats at home, in my grandmother´s house, on the street I always made sure to get close to them, encouraged by my mother, who throughout her life have probably had around 9 cats. I admired their beauty and behavior, and over time I began to further identify myself with them. There was a phase where I raised the flag to say they were the best, and could not bear dogs because I thought they were silly. This was nothing other than me trying to self affirm to an animal I have total involvement, trying to reduce the other animal that made me insecure.

When I was round 10 years old riding my bike on the my gramma´s street, a neighbor who had rottweilers came out for littering, and guess what? The dog ran out to the street! Today I’m not even sure if it came after myself, but I despaired, left my bike on the pathway, went in and closed the gate really fast. It was scary, I thought I was going to die and this reactivated that trauma.

Over time I could not get away from certain situations involving dogs, a friend that I frequented the house like mine, had a dog called Hanna and it took me a while to get used to her. I had in mind: “show no fear, but keep away, try to greet to see she leaves me alone”. I even had to deal with a rottweiler a schoolmate had when we used one or two lectures off to go to her house. I remember to explain in advance about my relationship with the species and my colleague assured me that the dog was quite calm. Arriving at her house, who received us? Fila was her name, huge, and really very calm, just came to see who were coming, let her smell me as I repeated with my heart racing, my internal mantra: “show no fear, but keep away, try to greet to see if she leaves me alone”.

It was by having to go through such situations, rather than avoiding them, I began to notice more canine behaviours, find out that they bark but do not bite and do not attack for anything, understand gestures, noises, all this that for me It was scary and I could never find out whether they were good or bad.

PT/ Sobre Preferências, Parte I

Medo e ódio em geral são sentimentos que surgem do desconhecido, se eu não domino, eu temo. Também existe a possibilidade do medo ser resultado de uma expêriencia ruim no passado, um trauma. Desde criança eu nunca gostei de cachorros, minha mãe diz que um dia, um cachorro enorme de uma amiga, pulou em mim e me derrubou quando eu tinha uns 3 aninhos. Eu só soube dessa estória muito tempo depois, de tanto reclamar na presença de qualquer cachorro, ela me contou.

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Melancholy/Melancolia

Posted on 10/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

Melancholy, Presence of Absence

EN/ Melancholy

Today is World Mental Health Day, so I decided to contribute to the Awareness week by posting a project I developed at university in 2014. It was the first week of Year 2, Semester 2 and we had to get into groups depending on the subjects we would work on to create a photography artefact to be exhibited in a gallery. I wanted to work on something related to the fading of time, passage or memory somehow. That was when some students approached with their initial ideas of working with family and loss. At first I felt I wouldn’t fit into the group, and that I didn’t wanted to work with such tense subject, but then realised it could be related to the feeling I had about time, more or less related to family, generations and loss that are always present in a way in my life.

Analysing this I noticed that I could work on something I have been thinking about a lot in that past months, which is the fact that I am melancholic and through the years I felt it in different ways and have to deal with a contrast of feeling it brings me. For these past months I read a lot on this state of mind/being, before deciding working on it for a photography project, which helped me to understand how I feel it, making me see it in a good inspirational way, as part of the person I am.

There is no reason to feel melancholic, but once I feel it, it is like being drag back to things in the past that can never come back, or simply the fact that in the present I am having either good or bad time, and can´t be with people I used to, loved ones that are far away and neither I can be part of their life totally and neither they can be present on mine. Due to leaving my country in the age when you get your best friends, moving around many times and not being able visit them and family members also, always have this melancholic feeling. This made the exhibition called “Presence of Absence”.

I decided to read more about this to be able to develop my project, looking at Ancient Greek and Roman Mythologies which I have always been interested on and that have a peculiar view on this subject. Mourning and Melancholia by Sigmund Freud, which was complex to read but helped me a lot to see specially the differences and similarities between these two feelings that our theme involves. I noticed that like me other people see it in good and bad way, sometimes choosing only one side of it, but in my case I deal with both and think both are important to live so that I develop myself as a person and end up having something constructive from it.

The set of photographs is portraying in an abstract way the state of mind of Melancholia with similarities and differences to the loss/mourning feeling. The fear of loss and constant knowledge of the existing or future absence from someone’s life is present on my life and having to deal with it inside is what inspired to produce the work. Approaching the different ways this feeling gets personally manifested, I interpreted them making emotion visual by using distinctive medium and tones: one brutal & extremist (using medium format camera with B&W film) and other inspirational & poetic (photographing digitally and in colour).

See the project on my Fickr album, Presence of Absence

Here are some research I did and reading suggestion on the theme:

“The melancholic in contrary of someone who tries to hide their weaknesses, find through an extremely self critical behaviour, a profound self knowledge.” Freud

Theories before the Renaissance, linked Saturn and melancholia.

Ancient Greek and Roman Mythologies

The Romans identified Saturn with the Greek Cronus, whose myths were adapted for Latin literature and Roman art. In particular, Cronus’s role in the genealogy of the Greek gods was transferred to Saturn.

Saturnalia festival in the Roman calendar led to his association with concepts of time, especially the temporal transition of the New Year. In the Greek tradition, Cronus was often conflated with Chronus, “Time,” and his devouring of his children taken as an allegory for the passing of generations. The sickle or scythe of Father Time is a remnant of the agricultural implement of Cronus/Saturn, and his aged appearance represents the waning of the old year with the birth of the new.

Saturn in Astrology

Saturn takes rulership of the signs that govern midwinter, like Capricorn. Therefore governs the melancholic temperament in these individuals. The colours of Saturn are those that want for the vibrancy of additional hues, being typically dark and black (Saturn’s contact can add an element of darkness to other colours), white and pale, or a grey, ashy colour. They do not display their emotions easily, but their emotions, like their imaginations, can be profound. Such individuals are observably deep, sincere, and generally gather respect.

Walter Benjamin on Origine du Drame Baroque Allemand
The influence of Saturn makes people “apathetic, indecisive, slow”
“ I came into this world under the star of Saturn- the star of the slowest revolution, the planet of detours and delays…”

Susan Sontag on “Under the Sign of Saturn”:
“Slowness is one characteristic of the melancholic temperament”

Victor Hugo “Melancholy is the happiness of being sad.”

“Saturn and Melancholia” Authors: Klibansky, Panofsky and Saxl
“The planet Saturn commanded the days in which human’s vital energy would get minimized, turning them almost infertile.”

Pictorialism symbols: hand holding head, Durer painting

Lars von Trier’s film, Melancholia

Literature, W.S. Sebald “Rings of Saturn”

Italo Calvino “Melancholy is sadness that has taken on lightness.”

Aristotle explained brilliance of mind and the exceptionality of great men in literature, politics, philosophy and the arts in terms of melancholy, that all those who have become eminent in philosophy or politics or poetry or the arts are clearly melancholics.

Freud, “The melancholic in contrary of someone who tries to hide their weaknesses, find through an extremely self critical behaviour, a profound self knowledge.”

PT/ Melancolia

Hoje é o Dia Mundial da Saúde Mental, então eu decidi contribuir para a semana de consciência postando um projeto que eu desenvolvi na faculdade em 2014. Foi a primeira semana do segundo ano, no segundo semestre e tivemos que entrar em grupos, dependendo dos assuntos que iriámos trabalhar e criar um artefato fotográfico para ser exposto em uma galeria. Eu queria trabalhar em algo relacionado com o passar do tempo, mudanças ou com memória de alguma forma. Foi quando alguns alunos se aproximaram com as suas idéias iniciais de trabalhar com os temas, família e perda/luto. No começo eu senti que eu não iria me encaixar no grupo, e que eu não queria trabalhar com um assunto tão tenso, mas depois percebi que esses temas poderiam estar relacionado com o tempo, mais ou menos relacionadas à família, gerações e perda que estão sempre de uma forma na minha vida.

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UK vs Brazil – Plastic Bags Use/ Uso de Sacolas Plásticas

Posted on 08/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

EN/ Plastic Bags Use

This past week it was announced a change to the way all large shops and supermarkets in UK provide plastic bags. Now it is a general government rule, and not a matter of preference up to the market chains, like it was before. Prior to this new rule, Lidl would only provide a multi-use plastic bag at a cost, similar Spar in other European countries, what charge for single-use plastic bags. While a few already followed this strict attitude towards their customers, other chains like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, etc, would keep both options of providing free single use and a charge for multi-use plastic bags for the most ecologically conscious.

What I would like to point out is something I will do with a series of posts, to compare these rules, behaviours and manners that have different reactions from populations of UK and Brazil. In Brazil, a couple of years ago there was an attempt to introduce some consciousness about ecology by removing single-use plastic bags from customer’s reach. This caused rebellion, people complained that the cost of plastic bags were included in the tax that is payed combined with the cost of the products in store. From London I observed the news, and for me it seemed more a commodity matter, rather than suspicion of being charged twice. There was such a negative feedback from the population that the rule was cancelled and single-use plastic bags are again being provided for free.

This year the rule is trying to get back in practice in Sao Paulo, providing “green bags” at a cost, made of bioplastic the initiative attempts to stimulate people to rethink the way they consume these bags, inspired by (guess what?), “…international standards and can be applied elsewhere in the country.”, stated by Marina Estarque from Carta Capital.

Here are some opinions taken from the article:

“I think it’s bad to have to pay, I will bring a house,” says Josmy.
“When people have easy access, they end up accumulating or playing outside”, said Camila Oliveira, 21.

Well, this is what is called “change” and this takes time to get adapted to people’s everyday life.
Hopefully here in UK and in Sao Paulo, people get their head around it, preparing for a more sustainable future!

Particularly I found this new rule amasing, I am ecologically aware and end up storing all plastic bags at home so I can reuse most of them. Unfortunately I have been a little lazy and could have invested in multi-use/more resistant plastic bags or carrier bags made of other materials to take my shopping home. This laziness to take such attitude has been fed by the commodity of having free bags available at the supermarket, what can be a little more practical as you dont have to think in advance and remember to bring yours from home. I know I will forget at times and complain others, but this rule is a favour really.

Single-use plastic carrier bag charge – video
Published on Jul 24, 2015

A short video for consumers and others explaining the 5p charge for single-use plastic carrier bags. The charge is being introduced in England from 5 October 2015.

For more information see https://www.gov.uk/carrierbags

P.s.: translated by myself.

PT/ Uso de Sacolas Plásticas

Na semana passada, foi anunciada uma alteração na forma como todas as grandes lojas e supermercados no Reino Unido fornecem sacolas plásticas. Agora é uma regra do governo geral, e não uma questão de preferência das cadeias de supermercado, como era antes. Anteriormente à essa nova regra, o mercado Lidl só fornecia um tipo de sacola de plástico multi-uso, por um valor, similarmente o mercado Spar em outros países europeus, cobra pelo uso de sacolas plásticas descartáveis. Enquanto alguns já seguiam essa atitude rigorosa perante aos seus clientes, outras empresas como Tesco, Sainsbury´s, etc, preferiam manter as duas opções fornecendo sacolas plásticas descartáveis de graça e uma taxa por sacolas de plástico de multi-uso para os mais ecologicamente conscientes.
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Conscious and Braveness/Consciente e Coragem

Posted on 07/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

Innocent Fun at Favela Jardim Colombo, Sao Paulo, Brasil.

EN/ About Conscious and Braveness

Over the years I realised that my courage to the adventures, changed a little its attitude. The maturity made me more conscious and aware of danger, a vision of possible variables that can make things go wrong, and not only wrong, being unsafe.

Always noticed that people who never had such an experience and are the optimistic type, are even somewhat naive when facing situations and end up running into something worse than imagined and discover they were not prepared for that.

The lack of knowledge about a subject that individual immune to fears and insecurities, perhaps braver and therefore happier, since there is nothing to worry about.

From the moment that you have an understanding of the problems around you, either about work, marriage, family or personal, is enough to prevent yourself, thinking and worry about them, beginning to develop ways to solve them. This would already cause some anxiety, but if the individual is not aware of these problems, or are not seeing them clearly, would never give proper attention until it comes to an extreme that reaches directly to then, forcing a reacting to it.

I always wonder: will be better to have the knowledge and prepare for it, which involves concern and anxiety, or to keep away from them and they just have an attitude when there is an explosion?

Photograph from Brazil 2014 project, on Wembley to Soweto Workshop during Brazil 2014 World Cup. See all photos on my Flickr.

PT/ Sobre Consciente e Coragem

Com o passar do anos fui percebendo que a minha coragem para as aventuras, mudou um pouco de postura. A maturidade trouxe uma consciência de perigo mais alerta, uma visão de possíveis variáveis que possam fazer as coisas darem errado, e não só errado, passam a não ser seguro.

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A Letter to Editors/ Uma Carta para os Editores

Posted on 07/10/2015 by Tariana Pestana

Uncredited Image/A Letter to Editors

EN/ A letter to Editors

If you grabbed a copy of the Evening Standard on the 30th July 2015, you would find a copy of an uncredited image of mine! The article featured the Wembley to Soweto’s exhibition, at The Hospital Club Gallery in Covent Garden on 20th to 24th August 2015.

“Dear Editors,

Today I got really excited to have my first photograph published in a newspaper with great visibility like Evening Standard. In News, the article written by Miranda Bryant, it has been featured the upcoming exhibition at The Hospital Club, of the photographs taken during the Wembley to Soweto project in Brazil World Cup 2014, in which I participated as a photography mentor together with John Cole and David Westhead. These photographs were also exhibited in Sao Paulo’s British Embassy and at the Community Centre in the Colombo Favela where we were based.

I can not stress how much I felt disappointed with the fact that my photo, on the left side of the text, did not get credited, neither at least I got a mention on the text as Thapelo did for his image on the right hand side.

For an emerging photographer like me, it is difficult to get the chance of having a photograph published like this, and my chance of visibility and prestige for the work I produced with Wembley to Soweto, has been taken from me with the simple fact of ignoring the authorship of the image, which would have been easily mentioned here.

For some, photographs are just illustrations next to an article. For photographers, they are the result of our dedication to our careers, just like I believe articles and publications are for editors and journalists.

I expect a rapid response on this issue, a respectful and satisfying way of compensation towards me.

Regards,

Tariana Pestana “

And as a response I received:

“Dear Tariana,

I’m really sorry you were disappointed that we didn’t mention your name. The images were provided by the people who are doing PR for the exhibition and there was no suggestion that the inclusion of credits was obligatory. I’m afraid it isn’t something we do as a matter of course for every picture we publish.

Our picture editor has said he would be prepared in the circumstances to pay you a fee to mitigate your disappointment.

Kind regards
Will Gore
Deputy Managing Editor
London Evening Standard, The Independent, & Independent on Sunday “

It is quite upsetting really, having to chase for your own rights. Enough is said, but maybe not enough has been done to prevent it.

Photograph from Brazil 2014 project, on Wembley to Soweto Workshop during Brazil 2014 World Cup. See all photos on my Flickr.

PT/ Uma carta aos Editores

Se você pegou uma cópia do Evening Standard no dia 30 de julho de 2015, você teria encontrado uma cópia com uma foto sem créditos a mim! O artigo destacou a exposição Wembley to Soweto, no Hospital Clube Gallery em Londres, Covent Garden em 20-24 agosto de 2015.

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