{"id":50827,"date":"2019-01-28T13:57:47","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T16:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=50827"},"modified":"2019-03-13T12:53:39","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T15:53:39","slug":"intimate-favela-portraits-of-the-inner-lives-of-favelas-and-their-residents-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=50827","title":{"rendered":"‘Intimate Favela’: Portraits of the Inner Lives of Favelas and Their Residents [IMAGES]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For the project \u201cIntimate Favela,” realized in collaboration with Catalytic Communities,* photographer Antoine Horenbeek<\/a> was an overnight guest at the homes of individuals and families living in a few of Rio de Janeiro’s many favelas: Morro do Timbau<\/a>, Vila do Jo\u00e3o<\/a>, Asa Branca<\/a>, Cerro Cor\u00e1<\/a>, Guararapes<\/a>,\u00a0and Santo Amaro<\/a>. The project lasted three months, from October to December 2018. Learn about the motivation behind the project and explore his photographs below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Intimacy, by definition, is opposed to wh<\/span>at is public. It is shared with just a few people\u2014a partner, a family member, or a close friend\u2014and is a pathway to our innermost recesses. In fact, photographing intimacy seems contradictory and almost intrusive. So, is intimacy still “intimate” when it is captured on camera and exposed to an audience?<\/p>\n

Capturing a glimpse into intimate spaces and moments is what I hoped to do in spending the night with families living in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. I took photographs of the special moments they agreed to share: simple moments, everyday fragments, portraits, and intimate places.<\/p>\n

In Brazil, the term “community” is frequently synonymous for “favela.” The notion of community goes hand in hand with that of intimacy. This is evidenced by the living spaces created by residents of Rio de Janeiro’s most densely populated favelas. They build their homes independently and do so to first meet one of the most basic human needs: shelter. Residents’ homes shelter them not only from bad weather but also from the surrounding world\u2014from social and economic injustices and political decisions that exclude them from the city and push them to create and organize in alternative ways<\/a> in this city.<\/p>\n

Favela communities\u2014closely linked to the rest of the city\u2014take the form of intimate bubbles. In favelas, close ties are woven by the people who live there. Residents forge and maintain strong relations with their neighbors. In favelas, a collective \u201cvillage mentality” and the exchange of ideas and resources<\/a> are often far more important than it is in the rest of the city. Two types of intimacy appear in these photographs: familial intimacy, which is born in and unites members of the home, and communal intimacy, a type of presence that links every home and stretches throughout the narrow and animated streets of the community.<\/p>\n

These photographs reveal parts of the intimacy of the favela itself\u2014offering a window into daily life in favelas. They hope to demonstrate that it is possible to capture intimacy without opposing (or disrupting)\u00a0<\/span>it. Photographing intimacy allows the public to be part of the smaller, tighter, and more restrictive circle of people who usually share in moments experienced by the person or subject photographed. It is an exchange between the photographed subject and the viewer, and the moment is made to last forever as it passes through the photographer’s lens. Make no mistake\u2014these photographs are not intended to portray “the reality of favelas,” for that would be impossible. There are as many realities as there are residents. These representations of often unknown parts of our cities will rather help humanize the favelas to us and to the rest of the city of which they are undoubtedly a part.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabrielle, Maria Lu\u00edsa, and Carolina during a family celebration in Vila do Jo\u00e3o<\/a>, one of the favelas of Mar\u00e9<\/a>\u2014a favela complex in the North Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A street in Vila do Jo\u00e3o. Mar\u00e9 is one of the largest favelas complexes in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Carlos Alberto, known as Bezerra<\/a>, in his kitchen in Asa Branca<\/a>. He was one of the first residents of this favela known for its quiet and pleasant atmosphere in the\u00a0West Zone<\/a>\u00a0of the city and has\u00a0dedicated himself to his community’s development<\/a>. During his time as president of the Residents’ Association, community members built their own sewage system, pressured city authorities to pave streets and entrances, and worked to promote safety.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inner courtyards in Vila do Jo\u00e3o, Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ricardo, a beloved painter and artist<\/a> in his community,\u00a0pictured in his home studio in\u00a0Cerro Cor\u00e1<\/a>, in Rio’s South Zone<\/a>. He is a member of the Cerro Cor\u00e1 Residents in Movement<\/a> group, and like many favela residents, is eager to know his community’s\u00a0history<\/a>. To do so, Ricardo and other members of the association organized the “Memories of Cerro Cor\u00e1<\/a>” museum project to recount the favela’s origin, which was formerly the site of an old farmhouse managed by slaves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ricardo’s bedroom in the small favela of Cerro Cor\u00e1.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bezerra, in an inner corridor of the building he shares with other members of his family in Asa Branca.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Young people playing a video game in a quiet alley in Cerro Cor\u00e1.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Matheus, on the verge of falling asleep in Morro do Timbau, Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ricardo in a street restaurant and bar in Cerro Cor\u00e1.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An alley in Cerro Cor\u00e1, a small favela located at the foot of Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue. Cerro Cor\u00e1 is closely linked to the neighboring favela\u00a0Guararapes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Churrascos<\/em>, or\u00a0barbecues, are a real institution in Brazil. Here, a churrasco<\/em> is shared by a family to celebrate a birthday on the roof of a house in Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Matheus, a young performing arts student at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), in the house he shares with a roommate in Morro do Timbau<\/a>, Mar\u00e9. He is the creator of a performance symbolizing the life and death of city councilor Marielle Franco<\/a>,\u00a0murdered on March 14, 2018. The\u00a0female politician and human rights activist<\/a> was also from Mar\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The upper floor of the home studio of Cerro Cor\u00e1 resident and artist Ricardo. In favelas, it is common to construct additional floors to accommodate family members or expand one’s home. The duration of the construction process<\/a> can last several years, depending on the owner\u2019s financial means at any given moment. The houses under construction sometimes seem abandoned, but in reality, the construction process is simply interrupted and will resume at a later time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Young people playing video games in an alley of the Cerro Cor\u00e1 favela.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nMaria, on the terrace of her house where she lives alone with her 21-year-old daughter Monalisa. Born in the countryside of Minas Gerais, Maria moved to Rio de Janeiro at the age of sixteen for a better life. After ups and downs, she lives in the community of Santo Amaro<\/a>, a small favela located in Rio’s South Zone. She is now grateful to live in the “Marvelous City<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

See all the photos comprising the collection ‘Intimate Favela’ by Antoine Horenbeek below (or click here<\/a>):<\/h3>\n