In January I spent a couple of weeks in Rio, as part of my first vacation in almost two years. I have this whole CDC-be-damned attitude when it comes to prohibitions on using third-world icecubes, drinking third-world water, or eating third-world street food, which usually makes me a daring stud, but in January it made me violently ill and that illness lingered for months after I got home.
The physical drama of Rio is pretty unique: you turn a street corner downtown and three blocks ahead a steep mountainside rises out of the urban maze, lush jungle green against the grey-beige city. The beaches are crowded, and little islands dot the shoreline along the coast. And as you’ve probably heard, people walk around with no clothes on. Not just the beautiful people; I watched a mass of skin and rippling fat spill out of a bus wearing only a speedo, and thought: where does he keep his money? or his keys?
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_2738-600x400.jpg) Copacabana |
And machismo and sex are in the air. A guy in my hostel got his face broken by a roving gang of drunken Brazilians during New Year’s, near Copacabana beach.
My friend Costin says that northern Brazil is “America Squared.” He’s got a point: the store shelves are piled high with Red Bull and bleach-front jeans. Energy drinks seemed especially appropriate there, but I couldn’t find a sedative stronger than chamomile in the whole city. Save, of course, the Caipirinha.
I only spent 12 days in Brazil, so though I may have impressions, I can’t claim any real understanding or deep insight. And mainly I was just convalescing and admiring what an incredible city Brazil has. But I did do one interesting thing while I was there.
Built up on the hillsides that surround the city are intricate and crowded slums called favelas. The best-known favela in Rio is Cidade de Deus, made famous by that fabulous movie of the same name.
In our hostel, there was a guy who took small groups into Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio, with about 250,000 inhabitants. You ride a motorcycle taxi up to the top of the hill and then walk back down through the favela’s twisty, shoulder-width streets. My friends and I had serious reservations about going — it seemed exploitative to tour someone’s neighborhood, especially if that someone has much less money than you, notably not a feeling I have about walking around the wealthy neighborhoods in Boston or taking the 9-mile drive in Monterrey — but curiosity eventually got the better of us and we went.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_2815-600x400.jpg) From the top of Rocinha. |
And it was fascinating. First off, it was visually intense: the tiny houses and crazy vertical separation from one street to the next made the whole place feel like an ewok village, and ensured that every rooftop had a stunning view of Copacabana beach, Corcovado, and the rest of Rocinha curving up and around the mountain.
And whether or not we were exploiting them, people were very friendly, and little kids ran out of their houses excited to see us. I let them use my camera, and showed them pictures of themselves on the LCD, and they’d laugh and call their friends over.
As we’re nearing the bottom of the hill and starting to head home, I was thinking about how much the kids enjoyed using my camera, and wouldn’t it be interesting to see what they photographed on their own, if they had their own cameras.
And so The Plan was formed.
A few of us from the hostel spent the next several hours buying out the disposable camera inventory of every street-side camera store we could find. Prices varied widely, though film and developing were very expensive in Rio, so there was much talk of “volume discounts” and we had to buy a few underwater cameras that would never be used underwater because stores were closing and our mission was Urgent.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_2962-600x400.jpg) |
The next morning, we went back into the favela and started passing out cameras. We were mobbed. It was sad not to have enough cameras for everyone, but we tried to encourage people to share.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_2991-600x400.jpg) |
The main logistical trick, should you ever want to do this yourself, is to take a picture of the recipient with the camera before giving it to him. Then, after the roll is developed, you’ll know which prints belong to which person. Unfortunately, the first shot on a disposable camera is sometimes a little bit overexposed, and so we didn’t get scans of two of the first photos. I still have the negatives, so I’ll fill those in at some point.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_2996-600x400.jpg) The hand-off. |
The return rate was pretty good; many of the kids were waiting in the street from 7am to noon for us to pick up their cameras. We got 26 back out of maybe 32 we handed out. This amounted to 632 photos. Many of them are excellent, especially for someone who’s probably never used a camera before, and with a cheap disposable. Some are sad, some are funny.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_3004-600x400.jpg) |
After I got back and started telling this story to people, I read a newspaper article about some Kodak marketing team that hands cameras out to starving kids in Kenya and posts their photos on kodak.com somewhere, and it made me sick. So I don’t know if my project will disgust you. We did our best to explain the project to everyone who got a camera, some people declined, and everyone who got prints was thrilled to have them.
![[photo]](http://nat.org/camera/img_3041-600x400.jpg) |
At this point I’ll just let the images speak for themselves. Click on the photographer to see their pictures. If you want a high-resolution version of one of these, let me know and I’ll send you one.
Posted on 23 August 2004
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Pingback from See also… « Manet on the hill on 13 June 2009 at 8:23 am
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It looks like you have a lot to explore in Brazil. I am Brazilian, but live in the US and also married with an American. My husband is fascinated about Brazil and wants to move to the country.
I lived for 23 years in Brazil and NEVER went to Rio because of ”violence issues”. But if you want to know the good part of this city, go to the Islands around, like Angra dos Reis, Parati, Búzios. They are gorgeous and safe!
I liked the pics a lot!
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I really enjoyed the picture, nice project! Its amazing when you see the people of Rocinha through their own eyes, how the picture totally changes. Instead of all sorts of stories about drug dealers, crime, weapons, etc., you see people living their lives with family and friends. It is a shame that Brazil is so messed up that the best the government can think of doing is sending in elite military troups to shoot the place up.
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This was absolutely beautiful! I looked at every single picture and was so captivated by how personal they were. I went to Brasil last year and fell in love with their culture and how different it is. What an incredible place! Great job to you! Seriously, that is absolutely wonderful what you did for those kids.
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Nice Pictures Nat. Great Job!!
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Wow…….what an amazing insight into the lives of the people of Rocinha. A fascinating article, thank you.
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Great idea. Breathtaking pictures. Whew.
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I am an American who lived in Praca Seca for 6 months and returning in three weeks, hopefully to live out my retirement. I know where Jacarepagua is and many other parts of Rio. I enjoyed the pictures very much!! Thank you!
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Good effort but would be more telling to give the cameras to an older crowd. The kids just seemed to take photos of themselves posing. With an older crowd, you could instruct them on the theme, such as “take photos of things that represent your life”.
Cheers
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Do you understand that is what makes these photos unique. Yes they were taken by children and yes most of them are of them posing with older crowd, perhaps if they were taken in some smokey club, or restaurant on a night out with friends in the ever so popular and much sought out “taken by myself of myself” pose, you know the one, that every stupid girl that thinks she is cute when she is drunk seems to post on their My space/facebook albums or even at very least one picture of somebody photographing themselves in the mirror. but let me ask you this. Have you lived there and what is your proof that this is not representation of their life? I felt that the images posted were fantastic I could feel the cold drab concrete floor, smell the stale humid air where the aroma of botanical mix with those of used diapers and decomposing food waste. I could feel the curiosity, joy, worry, along with the other emotions captured on the faces of the people in these pictures. Perhaps you can be the photographer on the Tours that Amin Dos Santos is getting ready to head. I think that we have a legitimate Class A touring guide in the works…travelocity eat your heart out.
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Great pictures! I have always wanted to visit Rio. Hope I get a chance soon. I loved the idea you had with the cameras. The kids seemed to enjoy it very much. Looks like you made them happy.
Thanks for sharing,
Dianna -
JM, “slumdog” is a derogatory term. I know your project had good intentions, and hopefully there will be more, but please consider taking the high road the next time. Think of how the children you helped would feel if they heard you berating someone, though it may feel justified, based on their former place of residence. A place of residence that is not unlike their own. Though Amin’s criticism was mean-spirited and irrational, using terms like “undereducated” and calling him stupid to get even and prove your point doesn’t help. This blog is a representation of you and your humanity. Don’t let anyone get the better of you.
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JM is not the author of this blog. I don’t know who he is but I am going to delete all the hateful comments on this blog now. Comments from the author of this blog (me) are green, like this one.
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Brilliant. It’s absolutely fascinating to look into the lives of people in the slums.
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I would love to be able to share this post on Facebook!
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