Changing one smile, one life at a time: Lior Sperandeo

The first time I saw Lior’s Instagram account, my heart skipped a beat. It’s full of the most beautiful visual art, inspiring human stories, but in the most extreme situations of suffering. The contrast mesmerised me: these communities who lack the things that we take for granted every day – like water, food and home – but presented through the magnificence of Lior’s artistic storytelling. What was blinking in the lights of the eyes of children – barefoot, skinny, in the shadows – in Lior’s visual art, was life in its purest form, or God(ess), or whatever you call it. I had to find out about the storyteller, Lior Sperandeo.

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Spending time with the Mundari was on my bucket list for a while. For me, every group of people who offer a completely different lifestyle and customs is a paradise of knowledge and wisdom. The Mundari attachment to earth and animals is mind-blowing. At first, the raw daily routines seem wild, even shocking. Things like washing the face with cow urine or covering the body with ashes made from cow dung. But being isolated here helped me remember that it is us, the crazy ones who chose to set themselves apart from nature. Thinking we’re stronger and smarter than creation. Look where it brought us, we’re fighting over a roll of toilet paper now. 🤭🧻🦠 . . . . . . #indigenous #tribe #african_portraits #humanity_shots_ #thepanafrican #great_captures_people #NGTUK #worldcolours_people #atlasofhumanity #keepexploring #yourshotphotographer #theportraitpr0ject #portrait_mf #humanpotrait

A post shared by PEOPLE OF – By Lior Sperandeo (@peopleof) on Mar 17, 2020 at 7:51am PDT

I messaged him immediately, and he didn’t reply. I pinged him again. And again. Until one day, he responded.

A HEART TO HEART PLAYDATE

Today, he joined our playdate from Brighton, UK. We had an amazing conversation about how we perceive life, how we search for beauty, authenticity and purpose in what we are doing (or chose not to be doing) in our lives and work.

GIVING BIRTH TO A NEW PROJECT TOGETHER?

YES YES and YES!

In the end, we agreed to collaborate on his upcoming photographic book. I can not wait to be a part of this heroic journey in the shadows, to enable one little girl somewhere around the world to go to school. That, to me, is a mission worth dedicating myself to.

Thank you, Lior! And thank you, dear tribe member, for being a part of this journey.

MORE ABOUT LIOR SPERANDEO

Lior is an Emmy Award-nominated Israeli visual storyteller based in Europe, working at the intersection of photojournalism, social justice and fine art. His work aims to challenge the mainstream narrative, build awareness about issues affecting communities around the world and be a visual messenger for those in the shadows of society.

If you are a fan like me already, here are links to follow him/get in touch with him:

https://www.liorsperandeo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/peopleofs/