Welcome back to Hang 10 with Birdie, where we catch up with friends Birdwell has made along the way, in and out of the water. In this edition we’re enjoying the rare pleasure of a visit from international photographer and native Brazilian Vava Ribeiro. Ribeiro grew up a short ride from Rio’s legendary Ipanema Beach and reaped the rich rewards of the scene, including a couple of amateur titles (he surfs goofy, if you’re asking). After a break-up, he booked a one-way ticket to France and stopped over in New York, where he stayed for 15 years thanks to some favorable conditions — surf and otherwise. A winner of the prestigious jury award at the Festival of Hyères in 2000, Ribiero shoots portraits and style concerns, often appearing in outlets like Another Magazine, Dazed and Confused, and Purple. His globetrotting schedule of exhibitions and beach shoots has slowed down a bit as he completes his first book “Hold Your Breath,” a record of his love affair with surfing’s birthplace, Hawaii. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t jealous.

 

1) Would you rather be able to have night vision or to paddle as fast as a jet ski?

• Jet ski paddle speed please... A Brazilian with that superpower on the line up!?... talk about giving wings to a snake... (not)

2) If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your days, which one would it be?

• Thats a hard one... it changes all the time...but i do listen to Raven's Bolero first thing in the morning when I open my eyes everyday. That symphony was engraved inside my head...
  
  

 

 

3) Best compliment you ever received?

• You look like Forest Gump…

4) What’s your favorite word, or one you use all the time?

• sick !

 

 

5) Your perfect pizza?

• Mushrooms, muzzarela, tomatoes,  arugula, truffle oil, and hemp seeds :)

6) Any pre-surf rituals you MUST do?

• Dance moves... moon walk, the worm, the robot, the escalator...

 

7) Favorite wave?

• Cloudbreak

8) Favorite appliance or tool?

• Leather man and duct tape.

 

9) Coolest animal you’ve bumped into out in the water?

• A horny seal that tried to hump me in chile

10) Best memory in Birdwells?

• I caught a wave once, at this crowded spot north of rio, with my baby blue Birdwell shorts around my neck, nude with my thing hanging out dangling . No one dropped in on me after that...

 

 

Check out Vava on Instagram HERE.