Born in Guarulhos, Brazil, in 1983, Diego Saldiva studied social communications in São Paulo before moving to Switzerland to study at the Vevey School of Photography. He won the Photoforum prize in Biel (Switzerland). He was also a finalist in the 15th and 22nd Nachwuchsförderpreis and nominated for the Paul Huff Prize. Between brutality and tenderness, reality and fantasy: the works of photographer Diego Saldiva exude a disturbing and moving ambivalence. In his series Break of Day (2010), awarded the Prix Photoforum Bienne in 2011, the photographer attempts to capture the impressions and feelings that stir within him during the premature birth of his son and his rare and serious illness. Since 2008, Diego Saldiva has lived in Berne and São Paulo, Guarulhos’ hometown. He dedicated the photo series Momentos e Máculas (Bad Spots In Our Best Times) to her. The photographer observes the rapid architectural evolution of Guarulhos, which is also changing the way the inhabitants live together. His gaze is melancholy, interested and precise. He walks between the houses, along the river, on the playground and in the living spaces, questioning the status of people in the built environment. How do you occupy your territory, what does “home” mean? Finally, in his Gigantes series, which he has been photographing since 2012, Diego Saldiva takes as his starting point a popular TV show from the 1970s: Os Gigantes do Ringue (The Ring Giants). These wrestling matches, based on the Mexican fight show Lucha Libre, have lost their lustre. But the wrestlers portrayed by Diego Saldiva also assume identities with masks, tattoos and dresses whose mythology transports them beyond everyday reality.