Portland State Magazine Spring 2018

27 Pedro Oliveira, a communication and adver tising major, graduates this spring, but he already is making his living as a commercial photographer. It all star ted with “Careful: Soul Inside,” a two-year photographic project profiling homeless individuals in Por tland and several other cities. The work, which starkly por trays folks living on the margins of society, has garnered awards, media exposure and two museum displays. Its reach inspired him to pursue his chosen career, says Oliveira, a native of Brazil. His project’s theme resonatedwith his own background, making it easier for him to relate to people he met who were living on the street. “I was always an outsider— grew up in a Third World country, single mother, in a small town. I saw the other side of the camera.” VERONIKA JIMMY