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Tommaso Protti

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NEW BOOK — ‘Terra Vermelha’ by Tommaso Protti is now available to preorder. Published by Void.

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The Amazon Rainforest, often affectionately called the ‘Lungs of our Planet,’ has long been idealized as a pristine sanctuary inhabited by isolated, disconnected tribes. It is a dense, green expanse on the world’s largest map, seemingly created by the hand of God, untouched by humanity. However, from a closer perspective, it is much more than just trees and water: cities have emerged from the jungle, resembling green favelas. Fields are ablaze, and the dark, unbroken flow of the Amazon River serves as a conduit for cocaine trafficking. The riverbanks are strewn with trash and human remains.

“Terra Vermelha” is the result of ten years of work in the Brazilian Amazon, delving into the pressing social and environmental crises unfolding in the region. The series aims to present a contemporary portrait of the Amazon, rejecting romanticized notions and unapologetically exposing the grim reality of a dystopia plagued by violence.

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#tommasoprotti #void #photobook #artbook #independentpublishing #photobookjousting #photo_void #preorder by @tomprotti

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3 years ago

This week on Lenscratch, we are honored to celebrate the winners of Vital Impact’s 2026 Environmental Photography Fellowships.

Our first featured artist is Tommasso Protti (Brazil). Protti has just been awarded the Dr. Jane Goodall $20,000 Environmental Photography Fellowship for his project, ‘Terra Vermelha’, a decade-long investigation into deforestation and Indigenous resilience in the Brazilian Amazon.

“The Vale do Javari represents one of the most urgent front lines to document in the rainforest today,” said Protti. “This grant offers a vital chance to advance my investigation, focusing on the Univaja group’s struggle to defend their territory and lives.” While deforestation is not only an environmental catastrophe but a profound crisis of human rights and Indigenous sovereignty, this work is ultimately hopeful—because it amplifies Indigenous leadership, resilience, and the possibility of meaningful protection when these stories are seen and supported.

This year’s judging panel included Alessia Glaviano, Head of Global PhotoVogue, Azu Nwagbogu, Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation and Lagos Photo Festival Evgenia Arbugaeva, National Geographic Storytelling Fellow and Academy Award Nominee, Kathy Moran, Deputy Director of Photography at National Geographic and Pat Kane, Vital Impacts Environmental Jane Goodall Fellowship Winner.

@tomprotti
@vital.impacts
@amivitale by @tomprotti

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5 months ago

La Habana, Cuba. March 2026 by @tomprotti

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6 months ago

Hi everyone, Tommaso Protti here, taking over @fotofestiwal.

I’m sharing last images from Terra Vermelha, a project developed over more than a decade in the Brazilian Amazon.

Behind the green veil, an invisible frontier is advancing — shaped by corruption, organized crime, and unchecked exploitation. Land grabbing, illegal logging, and gold mining are not only destroying ecosystems, they are fueling a hidden war. Indigenous leaders, land defenders, and environmental activists are threatened, attacked, and killed for protecting their territories. The Amazon has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who defend the land.

Forests are cleared at record speed to meet global demand for beef, soy, and timber. Rivers are poisoned. Communities are uprooted. Cities shaped by extractive economies have grown increasingly violent, marked by inequality, drug trafficking, and rapid, unregulated expansion. Every minute, a football field of forest disappears.

Terra Vermelha refers to the red soil of the forest — and to the bloodshed that has marked this territory for centuries. More than a story about nature, this work is about human nature: exploitation and resistance, destruction and survival.

Tommaso Protti
@tomprotti
Fotofestiwal Open Call 2026 Finalist

Funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU.

#KPOdlakultury #NextGenerationEU #FunduszeUE #EUfunds #Fotofestiwal #Fotofestiwal2026 #FotofestiwalOpenCall2026

🤝 → Łódź: @kochamlodz, Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń: @lodzkiecentrumwydarzen, Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego: @mkidn_gov_pl

#Fotofestiwal #FotofestiwalŁódź #FotofestiwalLodz #Lodz #Łódź #KochamLodz #KochamŁódź #LodzkieCentrumWydarzen #ŁódzkieCentrumWydarzeń #MinisterstwoKulturyIDziedzictwaNarodowego #MKiDN #MinistryOfCultureAndNationalHeritage by @tomprotti

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8 months ago

Hi everyone, Tommaso Protti here, taking over @fotofestiwal.

Over the next days I’ll be sharing images from Terra Vermelha, a project developed over more than a decade in the Brazilian Amazon.

Behind the green veil, an invisible frontier is advancing — shaped by corruption, organized crime, and unchecked exploitation. Land grabbing, illegal logging, and gold mining are not only destroying ecosystems, they are fueling a hidden war. Indigenous leaders, land defenders, and environmental activists are threatened, attacked, and killed for protecting their territories. The Amazon has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who defend the land.

Forests are cleared at record speed to meet global demand for beef, soy, and timber. Rivers are poisoned. Communities are uprooted. Cities shaped by extractive economies have grown increasingly violent, marked by inequality, drug trafficking, and rapid, unregulated expansion. Every minute, a football field of forest disappears.

Terra Vermelha refers to the red soil of the forest — and to the bloodshed that has marked this territory for centuries. More than a story about nature, this work is about human nature: exploitation and resistance, destruction and survival.

Tommaso Protti
@tomprotti
Fotofestiwal Open Call 2026 Finalist

Funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU.

#KPOdlakultury #NextGenerationEU #FunduszeUE #EUfunds #Fotofestiwal #Fotofestiwal2026 #FotofestiwalOpenCall2026

🤝 → Łódź: @kochamlodz, Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń: @lodzkiecentrumwydarzen, Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego: @mkidn_gov_pl

#Fotofestiwal #FotofestiwalŁódź #FotofestiwalLodz #Lodz #Łódź #KochamLodz #KochamŁódź #LodzkieCentrumWydarzen #ŁódzkieCentrumWydarzeń #MinisterstwoKulturyIDziedzictwaNarodowego #MKiDN #MinistryOfCultureAndNationalHeritage by @tomprotti

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8 months ago

We are thrilled to announce the @vital.impacts 2026 Dr. Jane Goodall Environmental Photography Fellow: Tommaso Protti (@tomprotti). 
For more than a decade, Tommaso has documented the Brazilian Amazon through Terra Vermelha (“Red Earth”), a long-term project examining how deforestation, illegal mining and logging, extractive industries, and organized crime shape daily life in one of the world’s most vital ecosystems. His work centers on the communities who continue to defend the forest—often at great personal risk.

At its core, Terra Vermelha is not only about loss. It is about resistance. Across the Amazon, Indigenous leaders, land defenders, and environmental stewards organize, patrol their territories, and carry forward knowledge that has sustained these lands for generations.

Through the @vital.impacts Dr. Jane Goodall Fellowship (@janegoodallinst), Tommaso will expand this work to the Javari Valley—one of the most remote and biodiverse regions in the Amazon and home to the world’s largest number of uncontacted tribes. The region faces growing pressure from illegal mining, illegal fishing, and drug trafficking, even as Indigenous organizations work to protect their land and sovereignty.

At Vital Impacts, we believe storytelling plays a critical role in protecting people, cultures, and ecosystems. At a time when environmental journalism is increasingly underfunded and frontline communities are often unheard, we exist to build meaningful partnerships that support long-term, community-rooted work.

Endless gratitude to our judges: @alessiaglaviano, @azubogu, @patkanephoto, @evgenia_arbugeva, and @kfmoran. by @tomprotti

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9 months ago

[LANÇAMENTO NA LOVELY] Tommaso Protti convida para o lançamento do fotolivro ‘Terra Vermelha’, no próximo sábado [06/12], aqui na Lovely House. Às 16h00, o autor acompanhado da gestora de projetos visuais, Yasmin Porto, vai conversar com o público sobre sua pesquisa, as imagens e o processo editorial do livro. Em seguida, Tommaso fará dedicatórias nos exemplares.

A Floresta Amazônica — frequentemente chamada de “pulmões do planeta” — foi por muito tempo idealizada como uma imensidão verde e densa, um santuário intocado habitado por povos isolados. Terra Vermelha, resultado de dez anos de trabalho do fotógrafo Tommaso Protti, apresenta um retrato alternativo da região. Mostrando campos em chamas, rios escurecidos que servem de rota para o tráfico de cocaína e áreas urbanas marcadas pela violência, as imagens do livro revelam uma distopia que desfaz essas visões romantizadas.

Publicado por @photo_void

‼️Se não estiver por São Paulo e quiser ter um exemplar assinado, basta pedir pelo nosso site até às 13h do sábado. Postaremos após o lançamento.
 #sóvem
 ✷06/12/2025 [sáb]
✷15h-18h ✷16h - conversa com @tomprotti e @portoyas

📍Lovely House Galeria Metrópole
Av. São Luís 187 . 1º piso . sala 30 . são paulo  ——————-<3 #lovelyhousecasadelivros #lançamento
#fotolivros #fotolibros #photobooks
@galeriametropole.sp @galeria_metropole taken in Lovely House by @tomprotti

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10 months ago

📷 The Journey, Tomasso Protti @tomprotti

In 2024, Venezuelan Cesar Atencio, his partner Lina and their children left home seeking the American dream. They crossed the deadly Darién Gap and travelled through Central America, like many escaping crisis and violence.

Stricter U.S. policies left them trapped in Mexico, where they suffered extortion and, in Chihuahua, were kidnapped for 25 days until relatives paid $1,000. Now in Ciudad Juárez, living in a shelter by the wall, they try to rebuild with fragile hope.

On view at Escola Pegaso – Carrer Dublín, 5 / Sant Andreu.

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📷 El Camino, Tomasso Protti.

En 2024, el venezolano Cesar Atencio, su pareja Lina y sus hijos dejaron su hogar en busca del sueño americano. Cruzaron el peligroso Tapón del Darién y atravesaron Centroamérica, como tantas familias que huyen de la crisis y la violencia.

El endurecimiento migratorio de EE. UU. los dejó atrapados en México, donde sufrieron extorsiones y, en Chihuahua, fueron secuestrados 25 días hasta que sus familiares reunieron 1.000 dólares. Hoy, en Ciudad Juárez y en un refugio junto al muro, intentan empezar de nuevo con una esperanza frágil.

La exposición podrá verse en la Escola Pegaso – Carrer Dublín, 5 / Sant Andreu.

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📷 El Camí, Tomasso Protti.

A començaments del 2024, en Cesar Atencio, la Lina i els seus fills van marxar perseguint el somni americà. Van travessar el perillós Tap del Darién i l’Amèrica Central, com moltes famílies que fugen de crisi i violència.

Les polítiques migratòries dels EUA els van deixar atrapats a Mèxic, on van patir extorsions i, a Chihuahua, un segrest de 25 dies fins que familiars van reunir 1.000 dòlars. Ara, a Ciudad Juárez i en un refugi prop del mur, intenten refer la vida amb una esperança fràgil.

L’exposició es podrà veure a l’Escola Pegaso – Carrer Dublín, 5 / Sant Andreu.

#bcndh #festival #photofestival #Barcelona #humanrights #globaljustice #photography by @tomprotti

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a year ago

The Brazilian government’s approval for offshore drilling in the Equatorial Margin of Amapá opens a risky new frontier near the Amazon River delta. The region is surrounded by vast mangrove forests (mangue), vital ecosystems that protect the coastline, filter water, store carbon, and sustain local fishing communities. Any oil spill or industrial disturbance in these fast-moving, sediment-rich waters could quickly damage the mangroves, harm marine life, and jeopardize the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Few images from a recent reporting trip to the region for @lemondefr with @brunomey by @tomprotti

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a year ago

The Suspended Life of the Yanomami. “Encouraged by former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, illegal gold miners have invaded the heart of the Amazon rainforest, bringing pollution, hunger, and deadly epidemics to the Yanomami people. A tragedy that the large-scale operation launched in 2023 by President Lula was meant to stop. Yet on the ground, miners still operate in the shadows, aided by corrupt police and, increasingly, by drug traffickers.”
A recent story for @m_magazine, reported with @brunomey in Roraima and across the Yanomami Indigenous Territory. by @tomprotti

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a year ago

La Bestia, the freight trains that many migrants ride through Mexico toward the U.S., is both lifeline and trap, marked by injuries, exposure and organized crime. These images were taken in January 2025 just before the Trump administration took office, when groups were heading north and many were later kidnapped. Since then border crossings have collapsed by 90 percent.

@wsj @leicacamerausa @leicasociety by @tomprotti

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a year ago

In Mato Grosso do Sul, the Guarani-Kaiowá people continue to carry out retomadas — reoccupying ancestral lands now occupied by large scale farms and ranches — in an effort to recover territories guaranteed under Brazil’s Constitution. These land reclamations often lead to conflicts with rural landowners and security forces, sometimes involving violence and evictions. Since the 1980s, Mato Grosso do Sul has lost nearly 25% of its native forests and savanna due to the advance of agriculture and pasture, further impacting Indigenous communities and local ecosystems. Here are some images from a recent trip with @brunomey documenting these lands, including retomadas, Indigenous camps, villages, and stories of abuses.
@lemondefr thank you @audrey.delaporte by @tomprotti

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a year ago