An collection of anonymous portraits captured by Google Street View's cold and impersonal camera. The series is dedicated to non-portraits of Brazilians. The images are presented here in a saturated manner, a counterpoint to the coldness of the images found on the platform. Most of the images circulating today are produced by computer programs for other computer programs, which organize and distribute these files in a variety of ways. We are surrounded by facial recognition tools, we are immersed within a new digital order based on the face, in which our profiles only achieve greater engagement when we exploit, when we monetize that which makes us unique: the face.
“Unportraits are a responde to the challenges of the pandemic, an inquiry into the concept of ‘non-portraits’ that begin from out-of-focus images captured through Google Street View. In an era when interactions are limited to digital platforms and our virtual reflections become our constant companions, Romeu Silveira applies himself to the way a North American giant of technology constructs Brazil and its inhabitants. To differentiate his work from others projects carried out using this imagery base and to introduce an element of strangeness, Silveira saturates his images, separating them from their cold original context. This image borrowing is a central element of his creative process, transforming commonplace pictures into works that explre the fragility and ephemerality of the digital world. Critical reflections on the surveillance and loss of control embedded in our relationship with technology come to the forefront, fostering crucial analysis of the role of images in our lives, and of a scenario that need scrutiny.”
— FELIPE ABREU
“Unportraits are a responde to the challenges of the pandemic, an inquiry into the concept of ‘non-portraits’ that begin from out-of-focus images captured through Google Street View. In an era when interactions are limited to digital platforms and our virtual reflections become our constant companions, Romeu Silveira applies himself to the way a North American giant of technology constructs Brazil and its inhabitants. To differentiate his work from others projects carried out using this imagery base and to introduce an element of strangeness, Silveira saturates his images, separating them from their cold original context. This image borrowing is a central element of his creative process, transforming commonplace pictures into works that explre the fragility and ephemerality of the digital world. Critical reflections on the surveillance and loss of control embedded in our relationship with technology come to the forefront, fostering crucial analysis of the role of images in our lives, and of a scenario that need scrutiny.”
— FELIPE ABREU
