Ana Moraes and the Urban Languages of the Street
Written by Gaia Mattiello
Published on March 30th, 2026
An encounter with a photographer whose work moves between Brazil and Portugal, capturing pixação, motorcycle street performances, and the everyday life of urban subcultures.
A Chance Encounter in Lisbon
Two years ago, while working on a personal project in Lisbon, I came across a book that immediately caught my attention. At the time, I was exploring graffiti—its cultural motivations, the social contexts in which it emerges, and the visual languages that define it. I spent a lot of time walking through the city with my camera, paying attention to the layers of tags, markings, and other traces left on walls, doors, and abandoned buildings.
While searching for inspiration, I purchased a book by Ana Moraes, a Portuguese-Brazilian photographer whose work soon became an important reference for understanding urban subcultures—and who I am now fortunate to call a friend. What struck me immediately was the directness of her images. They do not romanticize the street, nor do they treat graffiti as a purely aesthetic object. Instead, her photographs open a window onto a living urban environment where people, gestures, and architecture constantly interact.
Between Portugal and Brazil
Her photography is never touristy or superficial; it moves through neighborhoods with a sense of proximity and attention, observing everyday rituals and the rhythms of the street.
Ana Moraes, also known as unemployed artist, works between Portugal and Brazil, documenting urban landscapes and the subcultures that inhabit them. Her photography is never touristy or superficial; it moves through neighborhoods with a sense of proximity and attention, observing everyday rituals and the rhythms of the street.
Rather than isolating graffiti as an art form detached from its surroundings, Ana situates it within the social environments where it is created. Walls, staircases, rooftops, and improvised meeting points become part of a broader visual narrative. Her approach is never decorative: whether color is present or absent, the presence of a community is always palpable.
Through this method, her work reveals layers of urban life that often remain invisible to outsiders. The camera becomes a tool for observing and listening rather than simply recording images.
Pixação: Writing on the City
A central focus of her work is pixação, a form of graffiti that originated in São Paulo in the 1980s and 1990s. Recognizable by its black, elongated, angular lettering that climbs walls and skyscrapers, pixação is not simply a visual language but a visible act of social and political resistance, deeply connected to the realities of Brazil’s urban peripheries.
Pixação has maintained a confrontational and radical presence in the city. The act of writing on inaccessible surfaces—high-rise buildings, bridges, and abandoned structures—is part of the language itself.
Pixação has maintained a confrontational and radical presence in the city. The act of writing on inaccessible surfaces—high-rise buildings, bridges, and abandoned structures—is part of the language itself. Risk, visibility, and defiance are embedded within the gesture.
Ana has documented how this practice, initially rooted in Brazil’s peripheral neighborhoods, has traveled to Portugal, particularly Lisbon. There, pixação adapts to new architectural landscapes while retaining its raw energy and visual identity. Her work represents one of the few visual archives of this phenomenon outside Brazil, preserving a form of urban culture that continues to evolve.
The Culture of “Dar Grau”
Beyond pixação, Ana also explores other elements of urban culture that have crossed the street of the world. One of these is the phenomenon known as dar grau—motorcycle wheelies performed as a form of street performance.
In Brazilian peripheries, particularly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, dar grau is far more than a simple stunt. It is a ritualized practice, often performed collectively and documented through videos shared on social media.
In Brazilian peripheries, particularly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, dar grau is far more than a simple stunt. It is a ritualized practice, often performed collectively and documented through videos shared on social media. Riders gather in groups, transforming ordinary streets into temporary stages where skill, courage, and style are displayed before a community.
Ana has followed this phenomenon in Portugal as well, capturing how these gestures and practices are reinterpreted in a European context. What emerges from her images is a visual dialogue between two urban worlds. Her photographs capture the movement of bodies, the tension of the moment, and the energy of the street, immersing viewers in an atmosphere that goes far beyond spectacle.
Beyond the Walls
Graffiti remains the connecting thread throughout Ana’s work, but her photographs rarely focus on walls alone. Instead, they reveal the people who inhabit and transform these spaces: pixadores climbing buildings, street artists preparing their tags, motorcyclists performing in open intersections, musicians and performers animating neighborhood gatherings.
Through her lens, gestures, spaces, and communities become intertwined in a visual narrative that highlights creativity, resistance, and belonging. The city appears not as a static backdrop but as a living organism shaped by those who move through it.
In this sense, a wall is never just a surface. It becomes a site of expression, memory, and negotiation—an urban canvas where identities and experiences leave their traces.
A Raw Way of Seeing
One of the most distinctive aspects of Ana Moraes’ work is its raw and unfiltered character. Nothing appears staged or artificially constructed. Her images retain the unpredictability and spontaneity of street life.
She documents everyday moments as well as celebrations: carnival scenes, neighborhood gatherings, improvised performances, and encounters between different urban communities. The camera becomes part of the environment rather than an external observer.
Ana also films and photographs other artists, expanding her practice beyond traditional photography.
Ana also films and photographs other artists, expanding her practice beyond traditional photography. In doing so, she creates a living and constantly evolving portrait of contemporary urban culture. Her work connects continents, cultures, and languages, showing how visual expressions travel across borders and transform through contact.
DIVISA: A Portrait of Two Cities
Her latest book, DIVISA, represents the culmination of this long-term research. The project acts as a visual mirror between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, weaving together graffiti, people, places, and everyday moments.
Many of the images included in the book are unpublished and not available on social media, giving the project a strong archival dimension. The photographs of people — especially those who make graffiti — were kept mainly for the book and are rarely shared on social media. Rather than presenting urban culture as a passing trend, DIVISA approaches it with patience and attention, documenting a constantly shifting environment.
Street Culture as Lived Experience
Ultimately, the strength of Ana Moraes’ work lies in her ability to portray street culture as lived experience rather than a visual motif.
Ultimately, the strength of Ana Moraes’ work lies in her ability to portray street culture as lived experience rather than a visual motif. Graffiti is not merely an image on a wall; it is part of a broader network of relationships, identities, and social realities.
Through her photographs, viewers gain access not only to what is visible on city walls but also to what those walls represent for the people who inhabit and transform them.
Gaia Mattiello, on the border between Naples – my umbilical cord – and the world. Photographer and journalist, believe me, if you try to put a hand in my bag – among the many things you can find – there will always be a camera and a flash ready to make the city of lights squint.