Evocative Photos of Rocinha by Brooklyn's own Gabriel Ponce de Leon (a great guy and good friend, I should note) were on display in Rio's subway and have been posted in the online mag no minimo. What's nice is that these are not bang bang, shoot shoot shots. They show the simple things of everyday life. There's also an interview with him (in Portuguese) here at viva favela.
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2 comments:
Favelado: I think this guy work with the Dois Irmaos ONG in Rocinha. This is a nice story and I read the other on the vivafavela site.
There is much good to see in Rocinha, not just bad things.
Because of the trouble in the weekend all the party were stopped. I think there quiet now but we are careful because the policia are all over the favela now looking for more traficantes to kill.
JJ
www.vivafavela.com.br
www.vivario.org.br
www.vivacred.com.br
Yes. For those that don't know, the Dois Irmaos ONG is the Two Brothers Foundation (named for the mountain on which the favela is located), which is working to create a reading room/library in Rocinha and has been running English classes in the favela for five years or so. I taught English in the 2bros school while I was in Rocinha and now am part of its board. It's run by Paul Sneed, who has written on Brazilian funk and hip-hop music and now teaches Portuguese at San Diego State University, in California.
Gabe lived in much longer than I did. He's a great guy, a fearless photographer, and quite fluent in Portuguese.
As for the cops looking for more traficates to kill: most of the police wouldn't know a drug dealer from the rest of the favelados. That's exactly the problem, and why innocent people get caught up in the violenct.
Thanks for the post, jj.
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