This is the story of a real estate project in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, sometimes called “Jam-balaya” from the name of a local reality television show, sometimes “Carandiru” like the country’s biggest prison, or “Copacabana Palace”, like the five-star hotel that illuminates Rio’s beach. The six blocks of apartments, constructed thirty years ago, have never been completed and became a refuge for some 300 families “without roof or land”.
Today, the buildings are dilapidated and in danger of crumbling. The humidity level is very high. Stagnant sewage fosters outbreaks of sicknesses such as dengue fever, meningitis, gastroenteritis, and dermatological disorders. In certain buildings, entire floors have collapsed, leaving gaping holes.
But who are the occupants of Copacabana Palace, strong enough to survive and withstand such a hostile environment? Many had lived in favelas, some fled from dealers, others could no longer pay their rising monthly rent or were sleeping in the streets. Some had even been allocated housing but could not move in because drug traffickers controlled social housing.
Peter Bauza spent seven months in what was, at the same time, “Heaven and Hell, madness and passion”. But the photographer was especially struck by the ever-present mutual support. Very quickly, the leaders of this well-organized community accepted him and opened their doors… “I had the chance to become one of them, to begin to understand exactly what it meant to be a squatter,” explained the photographer, who spent many nights in a tent inside one of the abandoned apartments. “Life is hard over there, the cats are scared of the rats, which are really large.” By mixing with the community, Peter Bauza succeed in capturing some of the inhabitants’ intimate moments of life, moments of prayer at parties, passing through disarray and drugs. His images form a poetic recipe and talk to us about the suffering of these people who try to survive in hope of better days. He shows us their strengths and weaknesses, their failures and their successes in their daily efforts to face this hostile situation. “A life that deserves to be considered, a life with faces and voices…”
Copacabana Palace is a typical example of the fight for survival for a million of Brazilians who live in identical situations, while the government spends colossal sums on infrastructures for sporting events, and while the country endures a serious economic crisis.
Peter Bauza, Copacabana Palace
Cosmos Galerie
56, Bld Latour Maubourg
75007 Paris
France
http://www.cosmosgalerie.com/
