Nineteen-year-old Argentinian Julián Cabral is a student and photographer based in Buenos Aires. He took up the camera five years ago, discovering the documentary genre a couple of years later, and likes to explore the relationship between humans and their environment. His successful submission is a study of his chronically schizophrenic Uncle Carlos, known by the nickname Lito and after which Julián’s project Lito was named.
‘My uncle Lito has suffered for many years from issues that seriously affect his mental health’, says Julián.’ Today, after several decades, the reality is critical, the days that he steps on the sidewalk are becoming less and less, his words are not the same as before, and the sadness grows. His only light in the morning is my mother, my two brothers, and me. We are the only reason why he decides to continue walking the path of madness, for which he swallows a dozen pills a week, deigns to get up, turn on the radio and change the shirt he has been wearing since last month.’
Julián’s work was taken in his uncle’s house and shot from December 2021 to September 2023, with an intention of revealing how a person with mental health problems lives. ‘One day he decided to tell me about his life, his mind, what a person with mental health problems lives, feels and thinks’, says Julián. ‘A part of society which in my country and throughout the world is forgotten and made invisible. It brings to light the difficult situation that this part of society goes through. The most important thing with this work is for me to be able to leave a memory of the unfair life that my uncle and my family have had to go through.’
His uncle’s condition, and Julián’s photographic response, has clearly had an impact on his family. ‘One day, one moment, one second that I remember every time I talk about my submission is when I took the photo with my whole family and my uncle separated by a wall. That image was very important to me, seeing my entire family helping me narrate the reality of my uncle. This work was a very personal, very close work, which tries to show not only my uncle’s life, but that of my family. That day my two brothers, my parents and I were all at his house. The light was perfect. I placed my brothers in their respective places, I told my parents where to look, I waited for Daisy (my uncle’s cat) to approach his feet, I breathed for a second and I shot the image. After that moment, I felt complete, fulfilled, as if I had been able to get something out of myself. I felt like I was telling exactly what I wanted to say. It’s something very simple but for me that moment meant a lot.’
My uncle Carlos, called “Lito”, 53 years old, suffers from schizophrenia and severe maturation retardation, which seriously affects his mental health. Lito sticks his head out the door of a washing machine.Julián Cabral
Lito is a very nice and kind person. When we were kids, he always gave us candy and some coins that he had left over from shopping. My mother Virginia always challenges him because he doesn’t eat enough and gives half of his dish to her best friend, the neighbour’s cat.Julián Cabral
My uncle “Lito” lives in Burzaco, on the outskirts of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mid-Sunday my family and I put it on. Our visit is your only motivation in your day to day. Loneliness is an important word in Lito’s mind and life. Their suicide attempts, injuries and dangerous behaviour are often due to being unaccompanied. Despite the distance and the difficult situation of living, my family and I have never let go of Lito.Julián Cabral
My uncle’s house tells a lot about his way of being. How a person with mental health problems lives, feels and thinks. A dark house, with just one open window, a dirty and broken floor, with damp, cracked and written walls. The rooms full of objects from the past, some even useless, old photos and lots of thrown clothes. Cockroaches and some rats play in the kitchen. In the bathroom the water does not work and In the garden the grass and the trees are uncut.Julián Cabral
Every time we visit Lito, my mother orders, cuts and stores her pills to last until the next visit. It’s a long and hard job that can only be done with a big heart. Without those drugs, my uncle may not speak for days, go into a major depression and even want to kill himself.Julián Cabral
My mom, in addition to ordering her pills, taking care of her hygiene and doing the weekly shopping, sorts and separates her money. He doesn’t differentiate and he doesn’t have a record of the tickets, that’s why my mother separates them by color and by the days she has to use them. Once a week an employee cleans his house, also orders food at home and pays for the car that takes him to the doctor. Although my mother separates the money for him, Lito loses it and spends it in a very short time.Julián Cabral
Lito’s health is in danger every day. He takes more than 15 pills on the daily, he doesn’t take a bath, he doesn’t brush his teeth, he doesn’t exercise and he eats fried food in every meal. Many times I see Lito making a mouthwash with salt to pass the pain.Julián Cabral
My family and I visit Lito twice a month. When we go to his house, the conditions in which he finds himself are terrible. His pants are wet, his beard is on the floor and his clothes are all dirty. Every time we go, my mother cuts off his beard, hair and nails. He doesn’t like it, and he doesn’t usually do it himself.Julián Cabral
My uncle Lito eats a fruit salad in the living room of his house.Julián Cabral
A cockroach walks on a plate in my uncle’s kitchen. He cleans the kitchen and washes the dishes only when we visit him. Every Sunday I go, it’s not uncommon to find more than ten roaches on the kitchen table, dirty plates and glasses that have been there for days.Julián Cabral
My uncle and his room breathe memory, he always remembers and talks about his past, when he worked, his travels and his lost loves. She often weeps for her past, for her parents and her youth. Write down the walls and paste your most cherished memories on them. One of your favourite leaves is this corner of your room.Julián Cabral
Today Lito sleeps in my grandparents’ room, but his room from the past, breathes memory, keeps his notes, memories and most precious objects of his youth.Julián Cabral
Virginia and Lito are siblings, born a year apart. Despite the disease and the problems that come with it, they have a great relationship. My mother loves him deeply. So, even though she’s on the other side of the fence, she’s never left him. My mother saved him many times from injuries and from his own death.Julián Cabral
Nineteen years ago, every time my family and I get out my Uncle’s house, he approaches the door, takes two steps forward, steps on the sidewalk and stretches out his hand to shake it, tearfully, until the last second he sees our car drive away.Julián Cabral
The main wall of my Uncle Lito’s house.Julián Cabral
