On the tiles

These images are part of a project that was executed in 2014, at the slums “Alemão,” an enormous and unstable area in Rio de Janeiro and they were produced from another project sponsored by a company. The aim of my trip to the Alemão complex was initially to check out the space where the artworks of 13 Carioca artists would be installed and to carry out a workshop on my artistic career with the residents of the area. The sponsors asked me to photograph the installations and the people’s interaction with them. However, as these encounters progressed, I realized that people who never had the opportunity to be photographed in a more elaborated manner would be able to then and there. Other than the fact that I believed that only capturing the artworks would be a mere descriptive work about something that was ready and there. Obviously, it was necessary to establish a limit when facing such an immense field of possibilities that an overpopulated place has to offer so I focused on those who were directly involved with the installations and with the project. Each and every one of them, in their individuality/essence, demonstrated beauty, dignity, pride and happiness in being photographed in this manner.