He practiced photography and was supported by the entrepreneur Julio César Arana, who was involved in the Amazon rubber industry and the Putumayo genocide.

He spent two months filming in the Putumayo near the end of 1913, however most of his work from this time period was destroyed when a ship containing the negatives was hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat in 1914.

It included coverage of rituals of the Witoto people as well as wildlife and the exploitation of the river for timber, rubber, Brazil nuts, fish, and egret feathers for fashion.

[4] His 1922 film No País das Amazonas was met with acclaim and shown in Rio de Janeiro at the Palais Cinema and in Paris.

These included a film about the 1922–1923 Independence Centenary International Exposition and another about life in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the country at the time.