Nice to meet you, my name is Victor Ribeiro. I'm Brazilian, from Rio de Janeiro.

First and foremost: I'm the average guy. I have a wife, a 2 years old daughter and a 9to5. Beyond this I also have an intense passion for storytelling.

I started my career in 2008 as a boom operator in the TV/Film Industry and worked in countless productions in the last 15 years. Now I'm a sound designer and have done pretty much everything in the sound for screen workflow.

I'm not gonna be one of those people who say "oh, I'm a photographer since I was 4 and found my dad's old polaroid.". No, I've always liked photography, I did use my parents old film camera (which I lost in an amusement park) and even bought one of those superzoom Sonys with manual mode back in the day. But my story with photography started in 2015 when I bought my old and beloved Canon T5i.

Camera in hand I did two things to improve my craft: joined a 52 week photography project called Dogwood52 and took the camera to the set everyday.

You see, since 2008 I spent 12h per day watching cinematographers working. How they framed the shot, chose the lens, designed the light, etc. I had that inside me and with my camera on the set I was able to tell stories from my own perspective. I was still working as a sound recordist but on every break and rehearsal, I practiced, using all of that production value in my behalf.

I learned A LOT doing this. I realized the camera gave me a voice. Before, I was part of the stories as the responsible for capturing the best sound possible, but I had little to no room to add my personality. Photography made it possible.

There I was, having a great time, finding myself in a new hobby. Everyone was supportive: family, friends, cast, directors, cinematographers and I had a nice social media boost. But didn't even consider becoming a Photographer, with the capital P. It happened in 2018.

Between 2017 and 2018, I spent 6 months traveling through The Sertão in Northeast Brazil shooting a TV series. The Sertão is a beautiful but also struggling land. I decided to do a photo documentary about it, which later became my first NFT Collection: Where The Strongest Are Born.

After this journey I decided I'd be a Photographer. Came back to Rio, started to work in private photoshoots, fashion and making my own projects. Saw myself telling stories that weren't fit for social media, where countless instagram photographers made the same images over and over again. In the other hand, escaping from it and placing my photos in galleries, exhibitions and etc felt like a distant reality. In time, even though I loved what I was doing, I felt like losing my voice.

Then 2021 came and I found out about NFTs. Same as many of you. Suddenly there was a space eager for new artists and the stories they had to tell. What a magical year it was. I was refreshed, excited and certain nothing would never be the same again. And I still am.

Thanks to NFTs I made incredible friends, found motivation to be as crazy as I wanted because there was a place for my art. I love this space and I love everything we have accomplished so far, that's why I (even being just the average guy with very limited resources) will do what I can to help elevate the voices who are struggling and questioning their worth in the current market, in hopes we can be a sustainable environment for most people to create, make a profit and uplift one another.

This is the main goal of JPGTalk: to be a voice for those who are tired of yelling. I will constantly bring you new artists who you probably never heard of. Different styles, narratives and locations. Creative people whose work is too good to remain unsold.

"So Victor, do you think it'll make a difference sharing a few artists when we have thousands trying to be seen?"

Well, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe it.

See you on the next talk folks!