Corpo Trópico by Igor Furtado and Labo Young

In pre-colonial Latin America, expression was broader than the later imposed Christian binary. Since Brazil was invaded by the portuguese in the XVIth century, intolerance was nourished against what was understood as dissidence of gender and sexuality. Today, under the ultra conservative presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, the threatening atmosphere is also a reminder of the military dictatorship, that happened between 1964 and 1985. 

Despite the strong censorship, counterculture groups as Tropicalia emerged in the 1970’s, playing with the images of the exotic tropical paradise and presenting reflections on social history. Even though this and other movements have tried to seek change, most of the non-conforming representations were still erased from the mainstream. Still to this day, the country has very few archives regarding the history and knowledge of indigenous, black and LGBT+ communities.

The series Corpo Trópico, by photographer Igor Furtado and stylist Labo Young, is an attempt of conceiving other meanings for tropicality and disseminating new perspectives of life and expression. Both met six years ago through social media, where Labo shared styling experiments with old jeans and hammocks. His work was already reframing elements of daily life, creating a world of fantastical possibilities, where the human figure could expand and transmute. 

As Rio de Janeiro and Belém do Pará are 3,200 km away, they were only able to meet in person two years later. When Igor had the opportunity to direct a short film in Amazon, he invited Labo to play the leading role. One of the scenes was shot in Labo’s immense backyard, where his inspirations of creating garments, masks and accessories with flowers and plants came to be.

After this collaboration, their exchanges became recurrent. Nowadays, when in the same city, they’re usually working for brands or producing new images on their own. According to Labo, “At first, we were figuring it out with the experiences. I thought there was no big idea behind what I was doing. But then I slowly realized I was reflecting on how I could reclaim and use my said “tropicality” to protect and disguise from external threats, having nature as my first self-defense and affirmation ally. The tropics are nothing but a frontier, an imaginary line that divides extreme opposites, but also embraces infinite possibilities that usually go unnoticed.”