xo

Really nice work. I really like the moments in which your subjects are portrayed. Very compassionate and sentimental but strong at the same time. Congratulations.

Frank

I appreciate the comments that point out that there are not enough upbeat images and those that show the spirit of the community. I agree with that criticism and will be going through my early work to re-edit and try to pull out more of those kinds of images. One of the main weaknesses of this story is that I started too late. When I first visited in March 2009, the demolitions were just starting. I went to what was the last real street party held in the favela. These parties were common in better times, but they stopped once the demolitions started. While I saw the mood of the place shift dramatically between, say, March and April of 2009, even in March it had already become a more somber place than I’m sure it was before. Even on my first visit I could tell some of the spirit of the place had been taken away.

In any event, as I continue to work on the larger project in other communities, I will keep the advice in mind.

I do have some wider views as well as aerial views of the community…they either didn’t make my edit or Burn’s edit. But in any event I think they are helpful.

Thanks again for all of the kind words and advice!

Are we not supposed to give our thoughts on anything unless we have solutions?

Here’s a link to an essay by a chap called Lung Lui that i really enjoyed…i’m not holding it up as some perfect example but it really grabbed me ..

http://www.lungliu.com/origins/index.php

I think you’ve got some great photographs here, and am glad to hear you are continuing in color. I felt a bit tired after looking through 24 images, and color could really help to tell the story. I also think the edit needs to be a bit tighter, mixed up a bit more maybe, but overall, it looses it’s power several times. I love the reflective moments here, but maybe a few too many??? I really want to see what these people do for celebrations and the more societal interactions. Everyone feels so disconnected here, and maybe that is how it really is. However, if that is true, I think there might be better ways to show it. I’m dying to see a wide angle shot from up high, I really don’t have an idea of where I am in relation to the rest of the city/landscape.

Looking back, a few notes on the edit. My favorite shots here are very front-loaded in this edit. The community shots really bring me in, but are cut off halfway through. #14 with the baby is absolutely stunning, and I instantly get more involved in the story. However, after that shot, I see the same thing a few times, and get tired pretty quick. I am so glad you are seeing this as a work in progress, because I feel there is a lot of interesting content we’re not seeing just yet. Please keep us updated!

But! What about “to leave their homes to make room for a new development.”? I don’t see this new development clearly anywhere except 18 where a house gets demolished. You mention certain things in your text and captions that makes me curious… “Court order”, “architectural drawing”, “government”. I can clearly see those things as important to the story, so I think it should be included. I want to see those people who are in charge of the city or at least the place where they work. Maybe a closed door where they wouldn’t let you in, if that’s the case.

I noticed repititions of mirrors+reflections, maybe too many, although I think they are all strong (always a fancy effect). 09 is probably my favourite. That’s an example where the caption adds something useful for me, it’s not too obvious in the photograph that she is having an argument, she could be telling a story of whatever, but when I read the caption it makes me look at here differently. The way she holds her hands. Dramatic body language. Great picture.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by DavidAlanHarvey: New BURN post: noah addis – sempre jardim edite http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2010/02/noah-addis-sempre-jardim-edite/...

Like Bob, the first time that I looked at it, I did not read anything – not story, not captions. I just went through to get the essence of the photographs. I thought “these are truly excellent,” but I also felt some of the same feelings expressed by Vicki and others, a thought that so many photographers are delving into misery and creating images of hardship and suffering that after awhile they all begin to feel the same and cease to provoke outrage and the desire to do something about it but rather cause one to say, “oh well. It’s how the world is. Nothing I can do about it.”

I went back, read the text, then viewed the photos again and read the captions. This time, I found it completely compelling and that sense of fatigue was not there.

No offense to David, but I strongly disagree with the idea that you should blend video in with this. I realize that some in the population cannot be reached without video, but I do not think that is a good reason to do it, anymore than it is a good reason to publish books that have only words in them.

The still photograph carries its own impact and carries a certain kind of strength and power that video does not. Video can sap the strength away from the photograph. In general, I much prefer to let my eyes dwell upon a photo for however long they want.

I am also certain that there is more happiness and joy in the people than you show here (although you did get some of it) and I think that if we saw more of this happiness and moments of joy, we might feel even more empathy to their being forced to move. I don’t at all like the idea of you shooting the story without people, to focus instead on buildings. That would be a good project for Andrea, perhaps, but not for you. You got just enough of those kind of pictures to give the context that was needed.

Isn’t modern photo technology great? You have the choice to shoot in color, convert it to black and white and then go back to color at your whim.

Congratulations on putting together an outstanding essay and getting it published in Burn. I hope it will do some good for the people of the favela, but I wouldn’t count on it.

I first became interested in the issues of urban migration, squatter communities and unplanned urban growth during a trip to Nigeria in 1999 for an unrelated assignment. I could never find the time or support to start my project while I was working at my staff newspaper job, but once I left I knew I needed to start the project I had thought of for years.

This story represents a very small part of the work I’ve done in Brazil so far and I’m planning visits to many other countries for what will be a very long-term project.

To those who have questioned the choice of B&W, so have I. In fact a few weeks ago I made some color prints on a whim and I decided I actually prefer them. Since college I have always done my documentary projects in B&W. A few years ago I started experimenting with color large-format work with an 8×10 camera. For a while I was stuck between these two very different bodies of work. I think I’m finally working it out and even though as I was shooting this story I planned to present it in B&W, I think some part of me was thinking about color and now that I’ve printed the work I prefer the color. This project will proceed in color.

I’d like to get away from purely literal photojournalism (and the requisite cliches, which after years of working at a newspaper I still admit to falling prey to in a while) without losing the integrity and honesty of documentary work. Lately I find myself shooting more architecture and urban landscapes and focusing on how people interact with their environments.

I plan to update my site with new work, as well as this work in color, in the near future. In addition, I plan to make a dedicated website for this project with my photos as well as other stories, data, resources, etc. If anyone’s still paying attention, I’ll post links here once I’m done.

Additionally, if anyone is close to Portland, Maine, I’m having an exhibition of this work at the Salt Center for Documentary Studies from 5 March-7 May with a reception on 5 March from 5-8PM.

Congratulations

I like the way you’ve chosen your topics. People say its literal but when they are less literal, they somehow seem pointless. The pictures in those attempts to be less literal show us nothing new, and don’t live up to the statements.

For this particular project, I personally would have preferred to see more of the slum buildings and practically nothing about the people. I don’t know if that would have achieved your intentions any better but i found it was what I wanted to see in looking at this series. Your statement was so good, i don’t care about reading the captions. though of course it specifies the suffering. I just thought them unnecessary but i guess if you’d done that that most viewers here would complain that you were too distant and so on. The thing is that that is exactly why your pictures look like all photojournalism. I appreciate that its a personal choice. I’m also bored with black and white. It makes all the essays look the same.

Of course you know what you are doing with a camera.