silence

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal. All photographs © 2006.

when my eyes open, the world will be fine

The Best of Photojournalism 2006

I send three sets with my pictures to the
Best of Photojournalism 2006 Awards,
from the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).
Two of them are the 2nd place in two categories, of web site - Photo Blogs. There are the Web Site Winners.

My sets were the Indigenous National Party (Festival and Event category), and the Portraits set. You can click pic by pic, or click on the "view as a slideshow" of these links.
Thank you!

Prestes Maia, the fight for rights

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal
All photographs © 2006.

Prestes Maia, is a colossal abandoned clothes factory that towers over central Sao Paulo, and the biggest occupation of Latin America, with 22 storeys in total, is home to 468 families; around 2,000 people from the MSTC - Movimento dos Sem Teto do Centro (Downtown Homeless People's Movement).

The community is meticulously organised and removed 200 lorry loads of rubbish and 1.500 cubic meters of sewerage from the building’s ground floor, together with all the rest, bestowing upon it the social function of a domicile as determined by the Federal Constitution.
They had organized the cleanning maintenance, the security, they had banned all the traffic of drugs and crimes from the building, making it a familiar place full of activities. The created a library, recycling program, and cultural activities with artists and partners.

The owners of the building, Jorge Hamuche and Eduardo Amorim, who do not possess the title deed, abandoned the building for twenty years and owe close to BRL$5 million (EUR$1.8 million) in taxes.
But, an injunction has been issued for the repossession of the building.
The judge of the 25th Civil Jurisdiction of Sao Paulo granted an injunction for the repossession of the property, ignoring the residential rights of the occupants and even a UN report that declares; "the municipal government of Sao Paulo, through the Secretary of Habitation and Urban Development and COHAB, should promote the renovation of the Prestes Maia building for housing and social interests, to meet the objective of the dispossession of the building by the municipality."

The authorities didn't plan a project to remove everybody, and we know that they will return to live at the streets. We are trying to stop this, and to pressure the state governor Geraldo Alckmin and the mayor from the city José Serra, to make first a project, and then remove the families.

I've created a new set to publish the pictures of the development of this story, called "Where do we go?", and a Flickr's community to support them, "The Prestes Maia Hope", with an online petition to be signed (there is a translation of the text for english and french), and much more details about this story.
Please join us.

IV World Social Forum

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal copyrights © 2006.

I've started to publish the photographs of the WSF at my Flickr's page first, and day by day I'll be uploading new images from the Social Forum. Just follow this link.

> Marching for the women rights and against violence, at the opening march at Caracas, Venezuela.

the witnesses

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal © 2005.

Here is former street kid Poca (Jefferson), performing a moment about our Brazilian's slavery history and the Capoeria traditions, with the Humminbird Band (Banda Beija Flor). They were playing at Diadema, to the people from the Morro do Macaco's slum, in our last brazilian Children's day.

A few weeks ago we saw in many newspapers' covers Alexandra's shadow. Alexandra, 13-years old, participated in the gang who put fire to a bus full of people in Rio de Janeiro recently, commanded by the drug's traffic. Five people died, including a one-year old baby.
As another 750 thousand Brazilian children, Alexandra isn't registered, doesn't have a birth certificate or any other document, and will never have access to any social program in the country because she and all the others don't exist, officially.
Her mother died at 42, with tuberculosis, and she had never met her father. The social welfare never looked for her all this time; she had never gone to school and is therefore analphabetic. She started asking for food on the streets at 7-years old, and was adopted by the drug gangs to be used for small services.
So she changed the alms for the drug trafficker's life.

Her story truly proves how the structures that we live are failing. The family failed, society failed, the church, the community and the State failed. It's a sad repeated story from hundreds of lost children living alone in the brazilian streets. The only alternatives those children have are: choosing the drug gangs, the prostitution, or be lucky as Poca (on the picture above) and find alternatives programs.

Poca, 23-years old now, met this program called CARF (Children At Risk Foundation) in 1993. Poca's big dream whilst he lived on the streets of São Paulo for many years, was to one day become a Capoeira instructor. Thanks to CARF's efforts, he has realised that dream now and today he teaches 250 of our kids Brazilian sporting art of capoeira.
I met then just a year ago and I got involved.
You can watch some slide show sets I did there at this links:
Urban Outcries I
Urban Outcries II
Children's day
Capoeira's batizado

If you like to join and help this project just follow the star. It's my Christmas wish-list :)

the NO face

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal.

In my country, in my heart.

That's a late reflexion. I made this portrait from Jason at the Children's day celebration, with CARF (Children at Risk Foundation). But this image became a symbol of my personal thoughts and feelings about the last gun's referendum we had in Brazil. I see a kind of mortuary mask.
I was remembering the emotions I felt while photographing those brave Mothers protesting at the II Urban Outcries Project, the communication program about firearms from CARF, at Diadema.

But with a two-thirds majority vote against banning the trade of firearms to the public.

And who pay the price of the right to have a gun?
Well, in the brazilian's lands: the poors, the street kids, the indigenous people, the black people, the landless workers... they pay it with life and tragedy. Will be only them who will really enlarge the numbers of gun's shot deaths. That's a very sad truth for us.

The news today, were telling that the NO Campaign (against the prohibition from the weapons free commerce) was totaly paid from only two industries of weapons, the Taururs and the CBC, who made an oficial donation of $2,4 millions to cover all the campaign after the vitory. There is no irregularity on that, just the moral and ethic questions. Did the brazilians vote for their own rights and certainties or for the results of this industries profit?
The YES Campaign hadn't received not even a half of this amount to their publicity; and in a country with a so large deficiency of schooling, the critic sense to evaluate all this is rare and a loss.

I understand that many were disappointed with the social politics of the governament, and that many voted as a protest against this. But the real consequences are that brazilians voted to stay exactly at the same place we are.
We didn't change anything.

We voted for the fear.

"I believe it to be a choice that goes far beyond a decision to whether or not we prohibit the trade of firearms in Brazil.
We are choosing what kind of society we want to be: turned towards individualism, an “every man for himself” attitude, or an organized society with social justice and citizenship"

Words from Carlos Eduardo Zuma, from Instituto Noos

NYC Exposition

I am honoured as one of those inivited to exhibit 10 images at the New York City Exposition, and I invite all of you who are living at NY or near by.

An exhibition of photoblogs — NYC Exposition, Puerto Rico Sun, and East Harlem.
October 14 – November 26, 2005


Opening Reception:
Friday, October 14, 6:00PM –9:00PM
Viewing: Tuesday – Saturday, 3PM – 7PM
Artists' talk: Saturday, October 22, 3PM

MediaNoche
161 East 106th Street, First Floor
(between Lexington and Third Avenues)
(Postcard's Photo Courtesy of Hugo Provoste)

Global Voices Interview

David Sasaki, from Global Voices, emailed me with questions about things of my work and life. They published last september 8th this interview :)
So, just follow the link to Global Voices to meet a very nice way to know storys from all other the globe, to hear what the world are talking about, and if you would like to know a bit more of me.

There is also a nice link to this interview on this cool blog called Notes from a Teacher from Mark Hamilton, a former journalist and currently a journalism instructor in Vancouver.

The picture above are Nambikwara women dancing their "teenage-girl's ritual".

All photos here were taken on the Indigenous Nacional Party, realized by the Intertribal Committee (ITC) with the town hall's Bertioga City support, in São Paulo State. (April, 2005)

dreamer

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal. All photographs © 2003-2005.

Four Guarani's girls were playing near the indigenous fair.
They were running and playing on the sand, as little birds.
I was surprised when one of them invited me with her eyes, to play. I couldn't say no.
I lose my afternoon there.
I won a life.

This one is Angela, the most dreamer and easy opened of the four.

The Guarani People live in many brazilian's states.
Population about 35.000, in 1998.

Angela invites

originally uploaded by Tatiana Cardeal © 2005.