Cia de Foto did not invent the format of the collectives but, so that its performance could be understood, needed to build a passage space between characters and institutions that little interacted. The need to think about their own status and to negotiate their existence gave them a more extensive vocation: they did photography, certainly, but above all they did cultural policy. Cia de Foto was founded in 2003, from the affinity that Rafael Jacinto and Pio Figueiroa built as active photographers in the mainstream press of São Paulo. In the following year, João Kehl, recently graduated in what was the first university course of photography in Brazil, went from an assistant to a permanent member. In 2007, Carol Lopes was incorporated to the collective as responsible for the images processing, assuming gradually other creative functions within and outside the studio. One of the justifications for the collective work is, without a doubt, the splitting of tasks in terms of specific skills. But Cia de Foto invests in dynamics that are justified more for poetic reasons than from an economy of resources. Therefore, they follow by valuing the simultaneous work and the passage between the various tasks. What intensifies the relationship amongst its members it's a fact especially affective, as they have said several times: "Photography is something too nice to do it alone".