Maria’s Garden by Pedro Kuperman

Issue 152

Maria's Garden series tells the story of a widower from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that pays tribute to his deceased wife by cultivating a secret garden, hidden away from the chaos of the city, and by creating poems inspired by his family life. At 90 years old, the gardener lives in the time of plants, immersed in his garden, where life is renewed and blooms at every moment, and impermanence is as certain as life itself. The project was carried out for 6 years.

The garden exists since his mother lived in the old house on the land, located in the center of Rio de Janeiro. After the death of his wife, ten years ago, the gardener started to dedicate his life to the garden, now known as "Maria's Garden". At that time, he also began to write poems inspired by the beauty of his garden, and by his deceased life mate.

The series shows the lyricism of the place and his happy way of dealing with loneliness in the middle of his paradise. Despite losses and adversities, he does not feed guilt and mourning, his immersion in his Eden is not an escape, but an evocation. The images show poetically, a form of survival in this world. While his surroundings dissolve with time, the Gardner remains eternal in Maria's Garden, renewing himself with great vitality, just like his plants, and poeticizing life in his poems.

The work "Jardim de Maria" won the award of the International Festival of Rio de Janeiro, FotoRio 2017, being exhibited individually at the 2018 edition of the festival. It was selected and exhibited in various festivals in different countries, such as Open Encounters, Buenos Aires - Argentina in 2018; FestFoto, Porto Alegre - Brazil in 2019; Exhibited in the Photo Sequence of the Montevidéu Photography Center - Uruguai in 2019; Exhibited not PhotoVisa International Festival, Krasnodar - Rússia in 2019 and selected for the Image Festival Amman, Jordan in 2020.

Pedro Kuperman (he/him) lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
www.pedrokuperman.com | www.instagram.com/pedro_kuperman