Mario Lalau (São Paulo, Brazil, 1978) currently lives in Nevada, USA. He has a bachelor's degree in Administration and a postgraduate degree in Communication and Arts. He has worked as a photojournalist for Grupo Folha de São Paulo and has published in some of the main news media in Brazil. Since 2015 he has been focused on his ongoing personal projects — “Tropeço,” published in book format in May of 2017, and “Cairu,” his most recent project, also published as a book in 2025.


Publications

2025

“Cairu” photography book published by Fotô Editorial — 500 copies

2017

“Tropeço” photography book published by Fotô Editorial — 500 copies

2024

“Cairu” published in the Hariban International Collotype Award catalog

2024

“Cairu” featured in See:Zeen contemporary photo magazine #14

2024

Photos from “Tropeço” featured in the collective book Happening Happenstance by Ephemere

2008

“Brazil By Night” — Editora Arte & Significado, collective publication


Exhibitions

2024

“Cairu” collective exhibition “Beneath the Surface,” as part of Arles Off by Profifoto

2024

“Cairu” photos exhibited at Blanca Gallery and projected at EMD Valldoreix for the Luminic Festival in Spain

2024

“Cairu” was part of a collective projection at “Coletiva Tiradentes” in Brasil

2018

Tropeço on exhibition at the Benaki Museum, part of the Photobook Show of the Athens Photo Festival

2018

Tropeço photobook and photography exhibited at SP-Arte Foto 2018 in São Paulo, alongside other prominent artists with Fotô Editorial

2018

Tropeço made the shortlist for the 8th Ibero American photobook fair in Lisbon — 8ª Feira do Livro de Fotografia de Lisboa

2017

Tropeço’s experimental gallery, designed by Mario Lalau, chosen for Gallery No One’s exhibition “Uncertainty”

2017

Photographs from Tropeço included in a collective exhibition at the Visitors Center, Santa Fe, NM

2017

“Tropeço” solo exhibit at Ateliê Fotô, São Paulo, Brazil


Awards

2024

Hariban Award — Honorable Mention, “Cairu”

2024

“Cairu” shortlisted for the Luminic Festival in Spain

2018

Tropeço selected for the MOPLA Photo Book Exhibition at Venice Arts, shown alongside the Paris Photo Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards