“Capturing the Soul of Cristalandia: Joe Reynolds’ Journey Through Brazil’s Vibrant Lens”

The authorities apprehended him while he was donned in a canary yellow ski jacket, positioned on a side lawn gazing up at the trees.

Adjacent to him was an elongated apparatus that might have been mistaken for a rifle.

They presumed he was a marksman.

He was present to shoot, but not in a marksman’s fashion. Joe Reynolds is a photographer with a tripod (not a firearm) beside him. He aimed to capture the intertwining strands of wisteria vines that had overtaken the trees set against the backdrop of the overcast sky.

“It appears very exposed,” he remarked to the police regarding the nature of wisteria, which he enjoys photographing because many would argue it shouldn’t be there. “Observe how the light filters through. It’s truly stunning.”

They did not charge him.

Upon presenting his photography equipment to the officers, he was released immediately. There was further wisteria and some kudzu awaiting his pursuit.

Joseph Bernardo de Mattos Reynolds, 50, resides in Lawrenceburg, holds a daytime position as a photography instructor at the University of North Alabama and teaches art appreciation at the University of Tennessee Southern (he also serves as a waiter in Franklin) and is passionate about subjects often viewed as out of place. His lineage is Brazilian, and he grew up in a Portuguese-speaking household in Chattanooga.

His narrative of not fitting in resonates deeply with him.

The guiding purpose in his life is traveling to a small town in Brazil, a place he has visited at least 25 times throughout his life. Since 2008, he has concentrated on Cristalandia in the Brazilian state of Tocatins, aiming to discover universal beauty in a region fraught with poverty.

He has been awarded five grants for his photography endeavors, and his creations were exhibited by the Tennessee Arts Commission for a month in 2019.

When he journeys to Brazil, irrespective of whether it is to visit affluent communities or impoverished ones, he contends that the local people perceive him in a particular manner …

As an American.

“The U.S. is not particularly embraced,” he stated. “The U.S. (is seen as) a cultural oppressor.”

Despite his mother, Nilza, being as Brazilian as one could be, he mentioned. Despite being nurtured on “imported Brazilian culture” such as rice and beans sautéed in olive oil and garlic paired with the sweetest flan. Reynolds grew up understanding tales of how Brazilians pioneered photography and aviation (both of which can be researched and provide compelling arguments).

He still senses a disconnect from certain elements, everything.

Connections to Brazil

Nilza arrived in the United States from Brazil in 1960 as part of a program titled “Exchange for International Living.” Chattanooga served as the host city.

“She adored it,” Reynolds recounted about his mother, who passed away in 2014. She told her son that she “encountered a wild American.”

His name was Jasper, a Tennessean. They wed in 1969 in São Paulo and subsequently relocated to Chattanooga. As the middle child of three siblings, Reynolds was born in 1974.

“I grew up as a kid from Chattanooga, yet they were unsure how to integrate me,” Reynolds remarked.

He trained as a competitive swimmer, dreaming of participating in the Olympics. However, once he realized he wasn’t swift enough, he explored journalism and then the hospitality field. He moved to the Boston area, yet his career never truly settled. He served as a white-water rafting guide, a cook in a Harvard dorm, and a personal assistant to a bank manager.

In 2002, a former girlfriend and his mother both gifted him cameras for his birthday.

“I took my mother’s back,” he recounted. “She was displeased.”

He commenced studying at the New England School of Photography.

“It was a pleasure,” he noted.

However, he didn’t complete the program. He returned from Boston back to Tennessee. He began taking photography classes at East Tennessee State University.

Affection for Cristalandia

Photography enchanted Joe Reynolds.

“I articulate my connection with my surroundings through a camera,” he expressed.

In 2008, during a trip to Brazil’s savanna region, he encountered Cristalandia. And something resonated.

He aimed to demonstrate that beauty is universal. It cannot be excluded (as he felt at times).

There exists allure, for instance, in a gleaming automobile, whether it is in Cristlandia or Nashville. There is allure in an individual’s grin. There is allure in a weathered hand, in a pastoral creature, in a tendril.

His collection is brimming with images such as these: a senior man with vitality, a blossom sprouting from a dim shadow, a small child in a colossal pit.

“I desire for individuals to connect with photographs,” he expressed. “I’m guiding you to foster bonds with those around you. I aspire for you to discover links in my creations despite their strangeness.”

The endeavor that has consumed his existence is titled “In Communion with Soil.” To date, it comprises hundreds of monochromatic images of individuals, locales, and objects in and around Cristalandia.

Perhaps one day he will pen a narrative about his images and compile them into a volume. However, he remains uncertain.

Until that book materializes, he will persist in applying for funding to embark on further journeys to Brazil. This marks his 16th year working on the “In Communion with Soil” project.

“I’ve gained humility,” Reynolds remarked. “I have come to intrude with inquisitiveness. I want people to inquire, ‘What brings you here?'”

Even if they happen to be law enforcement.