#65 - Carolina Arantes, National Geographic Explorer, on First Generation, post-colonial identity and photographing women in France

My guest today is a Brazilian visual storyteller who lives between France and Brazil. Carolina Arantes grew up in São Paulo, studied photography and journalism, and later earned a master's degree in cultural project development. Questions of gender identity and the lasting effects of colonial history run through her work, which she develops in personal projects alongside the communities she photographs. She has received the Firecracker Grant and the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation Grant, was invited by the Centre Pompidou for the thematic year Elles Font l'Art in 2020, and has been a National Geographic Explorer since that same year. Her work is part of the BNF collection and has appeared in the New York Times and National Geographic. Her book First Generation was shortlisted by LensCulture for best photobook in 2023, and her project Tombamento won the Human Rights Grant from Fundo Brasil.We recorded this conversation live at Les Rencontres d'Arles, where her exhibition First Generation was on show for the first time in its complete form: eight years of portraits, interviews and found family archives, built around the daughters of African immigrants in France. Carolina tells me how she only allowed herself to call herself a photographer at 27, how a workshop with photographer Christopher Morris changed the course of her career, and why she built the project around listening before shooting. We talk about growing up between an artist mother and a business-minded father, what it means to belong to a country that doesn't always recognize you as part of it, and why editing, not shooting, is the hardest part of her process. She's also honest about the financial reality of staying in documentary photography, and what she still hopes to have contributed in five years.What you'll learn in this episodeWhy it took Carolina until she was 27 to call herself a photographer, even though she'd been shooting since her teens, and what changed when she moved to FranceHow a chance workshop with photographer Christopher Morris turned into years of assisting him on fashion and political assignments, and what that taught her about light and trustWhy First Generation took eight years to build, and how it grew out of watching African nannies raise children in a country that doesn't always recognize those children as fully FrenchHow she combined her own portraits with found family archives to show the culture and traditions her subjects grew up with at homeWhy she calls editing, not shooting, the hardest part of the process, and how she learned to "choose her diamonds" instead of holding on to every imageWhy she's honestly still questioning whether she can keep making a living from photography, and what that says about the state of the medium todayFree webinarWant to know what the photographers who keep growing actually do differently? In a free webinar, I walk you through the five patterns I see consistently, in this podcast, in masterclasses and in my one-on-one mentoring, and how you can apply them yourself. Sign up here: donkerekamer.com/webinar.Live show: De Donkere Kamer on stage in AmsterdamOn October 16, De Donkere Kamer goes on stage at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, in conversation with, among others, portrait photographer Nadav Kander. Tickets are 20 euros, so cost shouldn't be what holds you back. Get yours at donkerekamer.com/shows.Partner of this episodeCameranu: Alongside creativity, photographers simply need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. The specialists at Cameranu think along with you and give honest advice. Head over to cameranu.be and use code DDK10 for 10% off your next purchase.