INTRODUCTION - 6
Stories Moradores da favela. Or more widely known as inhabitants of the favela. To these people, the favela is their whole life. For most of them, it is all they have ever known. But everyone has their own different opinion on the favela. They all have different experiences of living there. They all have their own story.
and others in different parts of the world.
Art always takes on a material form: a painting hung on a wall, a photograph framed under glass, a dance piece performed on stage.
I want my work to tell stories. I want these stories to be direct, straight from the heart. They cannot be manipulated because we cannot change people’s stories. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. These are anonymous people in whom the media only takes a fleeting interest to – when their community is a battleground, when people are hit in crossfire. I want the favela’s residents to be able to share their pain, their joy, their hopes and their regrets with us. I want to be able to share these intimate moments with a wider audience.
And every successful piece of art is infused with its own special story. That’s what gives it meaning and makes an original piece more valuable than a copy. We all love stories, we are born for them. Stories affirm who we are and we all want affirmation that our lives have meaning. Nothing is a greater affirmation than when we connect through our life experiences. Our stories. These stories allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves
Often, it is what is being shown by a piece of art that opens up the widest narrative space. This can be grasped directly or require more of an explanation but similarly, they are doing the same thing. Telling a story.
Each of these photographs included in “Moradores da Favela” is an
INTRODUCTION - 8
“autonomous” piece of work. They all exist through their own aesthetic, having no need to be explained. The reason that the narrative is there is to give emotional power to the photographs. Just like “Through the Lens”, this is a visual account of how people’s lives in the favela differ from one day to the next. It is time to make these people heard, I want them to know that their lives do have meaning. People do care.
ROCINHA - 14
Rocinha Moradores da Favela is a project with many images and few words It is my intention to underline the pivotal role that the favela residents play in society and to highlight their stories by photographing them in the daily lives. When I first initiated this project and started listening to the residents of Rio’s largest favela – Rocinha – I at first didn’t know what to do with all of these words. It is impossible to understand why the Government do not treat these residents as equal human beings. It is difficult to understand why these people still have hope for the future. I got an overdose of the good, bad and the ugly that does go on in Rocinha. I did not try and understand why a boy caught in crossfire was spoken about like a thug. I did not try to understand the underlying problems to the conflict that goes on. I just observed the residents going about their daily life and understood that the people
that I spoke to wanted to share their stories to educate more people on what really goes on in the favelas.
ROCINHA - 18
José Marin “I’m sixty-nine years old. I was born and raised here. I’ve always lived here, but now I would like to leave. Rocinha has been declining in recent years, ever since the government tried to take control. It has become a really dirty place, with trash not being picked up for weeks at a time. There are no specific places where residents can dispose of their trash, so it just clogs up the street now. Our children and grandchildren have to
play in the street, so I worry because they have to play next to it. It is not safe. Everyone hears about the violence in Rocinha but it really isn’t that bad. Violence still exists but this is an issue between the people, no police operation will get it to stop. This just makes it worse. Violence is just another part of daily life here in Rocinha, it is ingrained in our culture. Residents know the places not to go and that keeps most of us safe.”
ROCINHA - 22
Wilton Bruno “I’m from Pernambuco. I came here at the age of four, and I’ve been here for fifty years now. My father died when I was young, so I came with my mother. In Pernambuco my mother couldn’t find a job, so we had to move here. There were better opportunities here. I don’t object to living here but it needs to get better. Since I moved here it has been improving. But at a very slow rate. The infrastructure needs to be improved in Rocinha but this is a difficult task. Everyone just builds where and when they want to. There are no rules and no regulations. To improve the infrastructure, they would have to knock the whole favela down and that will never happen. There are too many people here now. It is the largest favela in South America.
Rocinha is now a city within a city. It has its own rules and it doesn’t like intruders. The police don’t know how to act in the favela. They need to start thinking of most of the inhabitants as everyday workers instead of dealers, thieves, drug addicts and thugs. Most people live in the favela because we have no other choice. It is the only place in the city that we can afford to put a roof over our heads. We live here, and people need to respect that, just like they would respect people living in the more affluent areas of Rio. There’s a lot of prejudice against people who live in the favelas. But I can’t change that, so for now I will be grateful for the life I have. I have my family. I have my home. I have my business. These are the three things that really matter to me.”
ROCINHA - 26
José Lima “I came from inland when I was twelve. Back then it was quieter but now there are lots of people and lots of houses here. Back then it was a really backwards place to live in, now it has improved but not enough. It’s a nice favela to live in, it’s close to town and close to everything but there is no real need for me to leave Rocinha. We have everything here. I’m proud of how far I’ve come after all these years here in the favela. I love this place with all my heart and there is a real sense of community here. Although it is a big favela everyone knows each other. If someone is in need, we come together as one. We help each other through.
We never have any help from the government and whenever they get involved it just creates violence. This is why us residents need to help each other. All residents here pay the same taxes as those in the more affluent areas such as Copacabana and Leblon. But we never get anything back. There the streets are clean, and the residents’ needs are met. Here we have to walk on the road because trash fills the pavements. We don’t have the same access to public transport. Our needs should be met too. We are not asking for much. We are just asking to be treated equally. Everyone in the favelas sees things in a different way. But we all see that the government isn’t there to help us.”
ROCINHA - 30
Marcos Silva “The biggest problem in Rocinha is the violence. Us residents know the areas to avoid and what times to avoid them at, but we shouldn’t have to do that. We should feel safe in our own communities, although I feel that this violence will never change. The police have tried to control this violence but, they have just made it worse. The people in the favela see the police as the enemy because they are. They do not want to help us. They cause more violence in the favela because the
cartel
doesn’t
want
them
here.
Now, children growing up in the favela see this violence as normal, so it will never change. They will grow up to be the criminals that we are trying to get rid of and we cannot stop them. It is a vicious cycle. In the favela we have doctors, engineers, lawyers, professors and top nurses but these kids see violence as the easy option. Most of the inhabitants here are dignified people. And that dignity is what we need for the children today.”
ROCINHA - 34
Samuel Alves Muchado “I was born and brought up in Rocinha. My parents are from Caxias. There were eight children. My mother arrived here with three small kids, and the rest of us were born here. We are six boys and two girls.
I was the fourth boy to be born. Unfortunately, there are only three of us left, I miss the rest of them. Rocinha was different back when I was young. Life was simpler. People were happy with what they had, now they want more. There is no comparison between then and now. I wish we could go back.�
ROCINHA - 38
Susanna Nunes do Santos “My name is Susanna, I’m twenty-one years old and I’ve lived here since I was born. I like living here, but it is really violent. We can’t come and go the way that we want to. We have to avoid certain areas if there is shooting, this happens a lot. We cannot just go on with our daily lives like everything here is normal and okay, because it isn’t. I still have hope that Rocinha will change because I know that it has a strong community behind it. I want more people
to realise that there are good people in the favela. Just because you come from a bad place, it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person. A lot of us who live here don’t get to express our thoughts and feelings because we are scared that the cartel may not like what we say. Here there are a lot of things that are already established and therefore cannot be spoken about or against. Here there is no freedom of speech, you have to be careful of your surroundings and who you speak to in the favela. You never know who is listening in the background”.
ROCINHA - 40
José Claudio da Costa “All is But too, We the a
people hear about the favelas the violence that goes on. there is good that happens here more people need to realise that. are human beings just like rest of them, all we want is happy and peaceful life.
Although yes, there are shootings, drugs and violence in Rocinha there is a unique sense of community here. We are all a big family. We would do anything for each other. We would do anything for each other because no one else will.
People don’t want to admit it but people who live in the favela are doomed just because they live here. I question how many innocent people have died here in shootouts between the cartel and the police. How many workers have already lost their lives? If a woman and child die here, it has some impact. People speak about it. But if it’s a man, they automatically say he was a thug or part of the cartel. The family will deny it all they want, but they cannot change people’s perceptions. No one will believe them.”
ROCINHA - 44
Sheila Santos “My story? I was born and raised in Rocinha. It’s all I have ever known. When you are born here, you think it is a normal place but compared to other parts of Rio it is not. I’d like it here if it wasn’t for the violence. If it wasn’t for that it would be an amazing place to live. Will we ever get rid of the violence though? There is violence everywhere, it is just worse here.
My dream? I dream that my son will be happy. I dream that he will study and become the person that he wants to be. I am happy with the person that I am but wish I could provide more for my family. I wish that I had the chance to study more. I had to give up my studies to provide for my family and look at me now. I don’t have much ambition other than to be happy. As long as my family is happy, and my son is doing well in his studies, I will be happy.”
ROCINHA - 48
Yuri Lins “I’m twenty-two. I was born and raised here. I like living here because it’s a nice community. It’s a good place to live. But like any favela, there are risks associated with living here. Just the other week a boy was killed by a stray bullet. You just have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and your life can be over. People try and make up stories like he was there to buy drugs or do bad things, but I think deep down we all know that
that’s not true. Everyone is just looking for someone to blame and it is easier to blame it on the dead than the living. The boy killed was a good student, I knew him through some friends. He was a nice boy, a future to look forward to but now that is all gone. His parents are left with a hole in their hearts, they don’t know what to do because they know they will not be the last set of parents to experience this feeling. It will not stop, I’m just hoping that it doesn’t happen to me.”
ROCINHA - 50
João Monteiro “I was born here. My mother was from Minas Gerais and my father from Bahia. They met in Rocinha. I have hopes that the favela will change because when I was first born there was no running water nor electricity to be had in the favela. Now there is. It is the simple things that we appreciate in the favela. All we need are the necessities. We can get by with the bare minimum, but we always hope for more.
I had dreams of moving far away from the favela. My wife died, and we didn’t have any kids. I was left with no one but myself. Then I realised how many people here did care about me. They wanted to make sure that I was okay because no one is on their own in the favela. We all have someone who’s looking out for us, even if we don’t believe it.”
ROCINHA - 54
Domingos Mendes “When I first moved here there was nothing. It was nothing but a forest on a hill. This has now transformed into a self-efficient urban community. We have everything we need here in Rocinha. When I see how far Rocinha has come since I was young, I see that the favela still has a lot of potential to uncover. I have hope that the younger generations will make something of this favela. It has the potential, it just needs a generation to uncover it.
Things are getting better here, there are more things to do now for kids. This stops them from turning to crime because they are bored and there is nothing to do. The kids who get into crime now are those that you cannot stop. They have already made up their mind that that is the path that they are going to take. There is no telling some of them, it is who they want to be. We can guide kids as much as we want but at the end of the day, their future is their decision.�
ROCINHA - 58
Aílton Sarmento “One day I will get out of the favela and stay in the centre of Rio. That is my one and only dream at the moment. When I achieve that I will move on to my next dream. It’s a hard task to break out of the favela. If you are born here, you normally stay here for your entire life. I want to break out though.
I cannot live here forever, I want more for myself and my family. I don’t want to forget my roots because Rocinha has been good to me. It has been a good place to live but if I don’t get out soon, I’m scared I never will. I will get out of here one day. It may not be today, or tomorrow or even the next day. But one day.”
ROCINHA - 62
Eduan Danta Silva “I was born in Fortaleza, and I wasn’t even twenty when I arrived here. I own a guesthouse which helps for my family to survive. I have four young children. They don’t understand what it means to live in a favela yet. But someday they will understand. They will understand that the world is against us even though we are just doing our best to get by. I wish the best for this community. It has been good to me. I am respected here because I run a successful business. I take in tourists who then allow for other nearby businesses to earn an income. I have hope that my kids will get somewhere in life. I will push them to get out of Rocinha,
they deserve more. I wish that they will have happy lives and won’t have to worry about where their kids are playing or who they are hanging around with. It will be very difficult for Rocinha to change because it has been like this for so long. I know people who have been here longer than me that say that it hasn’t changed since they were young. If the drug trafficking in the favela stops, this will be a start, but I don’t believe that that will happen. The cartels are a part of the community that we are not able to get rid of. They will be here forever, they are the reason why I want to get my kids out of here. They are the reason that Rocinha is the way that it is.”
THE MAKING OF
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CONCLUSION - 72
I may never have met the whole population of Rocinha and I probably never will, but I do know that just from talking to the people that I have met in Rocinha and listening to their stories that my time in Rocinha is definitely not over. This visual account may be over for just now, but I will come back to it. In Rocinha there are far more people to talk to and learn about. Everyone has a story, you just have to show people that it is worth listening to. “Moradores da Favela” is not over yet. I am unsure whether it will ever be over. When I finish with Rocinha I will move on to another favela. Favelas are such diverse places that I don’t think I could ever get fed up from listening to the inhabitants’ stories. Although all thirteen stories that I have just shown are all from inhabitants in Rocinha, they are all different. Everyone has their own opinion on the favelas of Brazil.
Some people’s opinions will never change but I do hope that from this they see that although there is bad happening in Rocinha, there are good people and that if you overcome the bad, people will begin to see the good.