By Nick Brunner
Janine Mapurunga is a documentary photographer who came to the United States from Brazil as a 16-year-old exchange student. This was her first time traveling, and she arrived in the Sacramento area, coming from her mother’s house — which was located in a metropolis of 4 million people.
In her work today, Mapurunga focuses on evoking human emotion from the photos she makes (she is also a regular contributor to Solving Sacramento). Her work can be seen in her studio at Warehouse Artist Lofts during First Friday open studios held in the R Street Corridor.
Mapurunga recently met up with “Creativity in the Capital” podcast co-host Nick Brunner for a conversation about why she no longer shoots film, how not everyone with a camera is an actual photographer and how true portraiture is “a gift,” she says. “To me, when someone lets their guard down and shows themself to me that’s a gift they’re giving me and I’m honored to make a portrait of them and capture their essence.”
Listen to their conversation on our podcast, “Creativity in the Capitol,” available on streaming platforms.
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.