For any of you PBR fans who attend the Velocity Tour events, it is certain that you have seen Andre Silva. If you are not sure, he would be the very tall and quick to smile Brazilian who always has a camera around his neck. Silva has been a photographer for the PBR since back in 2005, when he began working for PBR Brasil. Prior to that he worked as a photographer, journalist, and designer of the largest rodeo magazine in Brasil. But his interest in photography, and rodeo in particular, began earlier; in 1997.
“I took some photography courses, but I learned a lot by studying alone. After a few years I took more specific courses and participated in many workshops on the subject. I also took two international photography courses when I was in Brasil. I have always enjoyed learning by myself and especially creating my style and creating new things. Today I can say that I study daily, and more specifically about bull riding. I love to get to know the animals and the cowboys, so the result of the work is better.”
“It was that year that I received from my father a Sony Mavica FD7 camera. I didn’t like the present very much because at that time I only went around rodeos and was studying a technical computer course. At that time, I created the first photo coverage website in my region, the site called Arrastão Country.
Brasil is quite well-known for their bull riders, and it is no secret that whenever a new face appears here on the PBR tours, fans will more often than not be watching someone special. But unfortunately, that was not the case for Andre, as he readily admitted.
“I attended 3 different events on the same night with a floppy disk (3.5 inch),” Andre continued. “The next day I put the photos on this website, which at that time was the largest in my region. As I already liked rodeo, in 2002 I had my first magazine cover in Brasil and in 2003 I received the invitation to be a photographer of the biggest rodeo magazine in Brasil, Rodeo Country, where I worked for 3 years with film camera.” But photography was not what he studied in school. The majority of the courses he took in Brasil were basic courses.
“My dream was to be a cowboy, but I was never good at riding bulls and was always very afraid. I trained for a while riding bulls but never participated in big events. I always joke that everyone who works around rodeo and is not a cowboy is a frustrated cowboy, like me!” As previously mentioned, Andre was asked to join PBR Brasil in August of 2005, in preparation for their debut there in 2006. To say he was excited about that prospect was an understatement.
Humps-Horns.com · 30 · February 2020