Lampoon / Transitioning – Marcela Jacobina crafts a gallery of humanity in her series

A photographic series explores with a voyeuristic sense the human body and ordinary gestures that accompany our lives. «It’s about being, existing, not acting»

Marcela Jacobina people watching

Starting to study and working as an actress has had an impact on what kind of images I am attracted to and want to be a part of creating. In the past couple of years, I found my attention going away from pure aesthetics and turning onto behavior and matters of the body. What I was looking for while shooting and editing this project is the opposite of performance. It’s the same mentality I bring to interpreting a character: it’s about being, existing, not acting. I am just observing these strangers on the street and photographing them without their knowledge for the most part. Mannerisms, quirks, the involuntary habits we unknowingly display while talking, or waiting to cross the street, or maybe thinking of something someone said. Meaning, what our bodies do when we turn our attention away from ourselves. I spent 2020 quarantining by myself in Rio de Janeiro. Now living in Lisbon and starting to come out onto the streets again, what I missed the most about living in community was people watching.

Marcela Jacobina

Filmmaker, actress and creative director. She started her career in New York City, where she lived and worked for almost seven years as a fashion stylist and creative director. She’s an actress. Marcela Jacobina currently lives in Lisbon. 

Editorial Team