He was born in 1958, in Uruguay. He studied at Escola Superior de Cinema São Luiz, in São Paulo, and began his career as an assistant to cinematographers Dib Lutfi and Mário Carneiro. He started working in 1975 in documentaries, commercials and feature films with directors such as Roberto Gervitz (Feliz Ano Velho, 1987), Sérgio Rezende (Doida Demais, 1989), and Murilo Salles (How Angels Are Born, 1996). In 1997, he settled permanently in Brazil. He was the cinematographer in City of God (2002), by Fernando Meirelles, and got an Academy Award nomination for his work. He joined Spike Lee for the TV feature Sucker Free City (2003) and again Meirelles for The Constant Gardener (2005). The Pope’s Toilet (2007), his first feature, was selected at the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival, and presented at the 32nd Mostra. After that, he directed the feature film The Story of Artigas (2011) and the series 3%.