Joćo Pina: For your free thinking

Press Release

“For your free thinking” is an exhibition of provoking black and white photographs by João Pina.

While the photographs themselves are rich and expressive, it is the story behind these images that really captures the attention. The images are of prisoners who were punished for having ideals that conflicted with the Portugese government – a dictatorial regime that lasted more than 48 years.

The story of political prisoners is not new, but the thing that makes this series so compelling is the personal attachment Pina has with the project – two of his Grandparents were imprisoned during this regime for thinking differently than the fascist party.

“To me, being born with this heritage and seeing all my generation not being informed of what happened just a few years before we were born, created an unconformable feeling within me. I felt it was my task to recover their memory, otherwise they would pass on – as some already had – and their stories would go with them”, said Pina.

Pina decided to pair up with Rui Daniel Galiza, a Portuguese writer, to interview and record these people’s stories. This resulted in their book, “Por teu livre pensamento”, which is being released in a number of European countries. Signed copies of the book will also be available at the Point of View Gallery. “In a way, this is my homage to the ones who still fight for what they believe in, not really caring if they have a high price to pay for saying what they think”, said Pina. The photographs are a composition of original mug shots, portraits that mirror the mug shots, and formal portraits of each person in recent years. These portraits are shot with warmth and respect, giving each person the dignity they deserve.

João Pina is a young, emerging photographer who started shooting commercially at the age of 18. In 2001, he began to focus on documentary photography with the commencement of his “For your free thinking” project. In 2002 he started to document Cuba, hoping to be a privileged observer of the future of that country. Since then he has been focusing on political movements in Latin America. Most recently, Pina started to photograph conflicts both in Latin America and the “War on Terror” in Afghanistan. His work has been published in Newsweek, The New York Times, GEO, El Pais, EPS, LV Magazine, D Magazine, Days Japan, Le Fígaro and Visão among others. He is now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, working on the scars that the military dictatorships have left on the southern cone on South America.

“For your free thinking” is on show at Point of View Gallery from January 17 through to Febraury 17, 2008. The artist’s opening reception is on Thursday January 17th from 6:00 – 9:00PM. For more information, please email Anthea Hoyle at anthea.povgallery@gmail.com or call 212-967-3936.