Learning English from the trash can

How did you get into photography? How did you get your degree in journalism?

I often get asked these questions and the answer is not simple or romantic like many photographers have, like "I come from an artistic family" or "I got my first camera when I was a child" etc.

No. My story is different.

My love for writing came from a very early age. I learned to read when I was 2 years and 8 months old. Liking to write was a consequence.

Born and raised on the outskirts of the metropolitan region of São Paulo, I'm the first to get a university degree in my family. My parents couldn't afford to pay for my studies but I got a full scholarship for low-income families from the government and studied at one of São Paulo's best private journalism schools at the time.

Unfortunately, there were no smartphones back in the early 90's and I was already 4 years old in this photo. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure we could get a viral video of me as a toddler reading comic books.

The old Yashica was a prize my father got in a raffle. Film rolls were too expensive for us and so was developing the rolls. The simple act of sparing a day to use a roll was an important event in my family and that would happen every four or five years. I was never allowed to touch the camera, but could hold the case if I wanted. The first time I held it was probably this one in the photo below. :)

The old Yashica was a prize my father got in a raffle. Film rolls were too expensive for us and so was developing the rolls. So the simple act of sparing a day to use a roll was an important event in my family,, that would happen every four or five years. But here, he photographed me holding a camera case for the first time.

Ealier this year, Grant Scott from the United Nations of Photography asked me "What does photography means to you?" for the fantastic podcast "A photographic life" I tell more of this beginning and other stories.

The podcast is English. By the way, since I’m sharing how some things began in my life, I guess I need to share how I learned to speak English. When I was 11, my father, a former metallurgist, was working as a janitor in a condominium and was in charge of recycling waste. One of the dwellers was moving to the US and threw all his English books away (very old ones, with tape recorders and all).

He knew his studious daughter very well, so he brought those books home just in case. I remember feeling like winning the lottery and started studying on my own. My teenage friends mocked me saying I was wasting time and would never need English in my life. (Don't tell a nerdy, persistent girl what she can't do.)

That's how I learned. It’s not perfect, but well…

That was 1998 Probably nowadays Youtube would have made everything easier!

https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2021/02/10/podcast-a-photographic-life-episode-136-plus-photographer-ana-caroline-de-lima/

Also available on Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud and most other podcast platforms.