Ethnographic approach and social intervention in the production and use of images: interview with José Roberto Novaes (Beto Novaes)

Abstract Beto Novaes is a retired professor of the Institute of Economics of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he coordinates the ‘Education through Images’ project. Since the mid-seventies, he has undertaken research and extension activities based on the use of images about work and workers, mostly in the rural sector. Images are the means used to bring research and academic knowledge closer to society, disrupting the hierarchy of knowledge in which academic knowledge is normally considered superior. His productions arise from social demands to deal with problems of little visibility such as: the exploitation of labor and migrations in the rural domain, child and female labor, workers’ resistance, agroecology and confrontation with pesticides use. Through his ethnographic approach, he acts against the exercise of domination through workers’ narratives, ‘giving voice to those who have no voice’, and designing ways of confronting with and changing reality. His documentaries express teachings in the art of ethnography and in the practice of intervention, not only with a view to change social reality, but also to influence academic praxis. His films are also artistic pieces where beauty coexists with sensitivity, generosity, commitment and hope.