The faces of New York City families that struggle to survive against health and environmental threats in public housing developments. This project documents a startling juxtaposition: the dignified daily lives of the residents of this city within a city and the crumbling walls and ceiling of their apartments.
Public housing in New York were built by NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) using low cost materials , the houses get mold,have infiltrations and other problems. Living in this environment leads to health diseases such as asthma and other respiratory allergies. It is public housing and people have to wait al least 2 years or more to get their houses fixed and as time goes by, the exposure to these fungus leads to this terrible public health situation.
The public houses in New York are scattered all over the city: Lower Manhattan, Harlem and The Bronx. However, in The Bronx the situation is a severe issue asthma death rate is one of the highest in the city. Living in these houses is living with “silent murder”
Artist Bio:
I was born in 1986 and I’m a Portuguese photographer and multimedia producer, currently living in Lisbon.
After Arts Education, I followed Photography studies to fulfill my passion for telling stories through visual concept. I did an internship in the Portuguese Newspaper Jornal de Negócios where I covered news features as a photojournalist. Following these experiences, I started working as a freelancer for different newspapers and magazines. In 2009 I moved to China to do an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the Dalian Institute of Image Art/ University of Bolton, where I developed my photography skills and a strong passion for multimedia. In 2012 I went to New York for a video internship at Magnum in Motion. I started volunteering for The Bronx Documentary Center that helped me develop a project that became an exhibition about Asthma in Public Housing. Currently I continue my freelancing work in Lisbon, Portugal.
