Faces of Rocinha - part 1
These photos were taken during a one day photo excursion to Rocinha (in Rio de Janeiro), the largest slum in Latin America. In addition to being exposed to extreme poverty, pollution, and bad sanitation conditions, inhabitants are also exposed to violence. Despite these difficulties, I was able to find kindness and smiles. Our large group was invited into people's homes, curious eyes followed us everywhere we went, and there were a few kids who followed us the whole way. We received requests for pictures, and some people actually posed for us, for a long time, like the children who arranged us around them in a circle so we could watch, and photograph, them playing. We were also asked not to take pictures as we walked passed a drug gang. Little kids, holding guns that were almost bigger and heavier than they were. It's hard to even imagine how hard it is to live under these conditions, especially when most of the people who live there are full time workers, who can't afford a safe place to live. How can they take it? Somehow, they figured it out. They don't call their homes "slum". They call it "our community".
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