Wolf or Die

For our latest interview, we spoke with Brazilian Wolf or Die. She’s a fashion and editorial photographer who also does self-portraits. Check out more of her self-portrait work below and see the full interview about her career and inspirations.

Intercru: Where are you from? Where do you live and work now?

Wolf or Die: I’m from Brazil and I live and work in the city of São Paulo.

What 3 words would you use to describe yourself?

Creative, curious, dreamer.

Where do you find your creative inspiration?

Everywhere! I’m a really observant person; I’m always looking into the details of everything, so I get inspired really easily. But I think a lot of my creative inspiration comes from natural light, the way light can change scenes and give shape to things, the way it’s never the same and constantly changing.

I also find creative inspiration in the work of others. I’m always looking into other photographers work, I have so many boards of moods and references.

How did you get started doing self-portraits?

I have always loved to take photos since I was a child. I took any camera I saw and started shooting everything; I was the person who took all photos from family trips and events.

I started doing self-portraits as a way to express myself. It has been 5 years since I did my first self-portrait series and I never shared any of those first photos because that was never the point- it was about seeing myself in different ways, searching for hidden details, exploring myself.

After some years doing it only for me I thought maybe it would be cool to share it. I wanted to share my perspective and point of view, and inspire other people to take self-portraits. I think everyone at some point should take self-portraits, because it’s a space to understand and explore yourself without judgments. You can express and see yourself in so many different perspectives, you start to learn and discover many new things about you. It’s a self-knowledge process, about listening and realizing our own process. For me the process of doing self-portraits has changed me in so many ways- I’m much more confident about myself now, I understand my details, my fears, I have more compassion for myself.

Also, I work as a photographer in fashion and editorial, and at some point I think it’s really important for all photographers to put themselves in front of the camera, to understand the vulnerability of being in this position, and be able to explore yourself. I think it really changes your perspective as a photographer when you are going to shoot someone else.

What is something about yourself that not everyone knows?

I think most people don’t know that I’ve worked as a photographer for 7 years now.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Be patient and trust yourself. At the beginning of any process, we want everything to happen fast but experience comes with time and it’s really important for us to understand things and be able to see from different perspectives. I needed all my years of work to be able to be who I am now and to perceive things the way I do. And the other important point is to trust yourself and trust your work even though it’s not an easy path and no one else believes in it.