MENINOS DE RUA
PHOTOSTORY
DELMI ALVAREZ
The life of the children in Salvador de Bahia, Brasil. I covered this assignment with a grant of small budget. I did spend four months in Salvador de Bahia, documenting the life of children that live in the misery and poverty. The children come from the deepest areas of inside Brasil. The story is not finish. I will go back to Brasil some day.
scroll to the right to see the pictures
The families come from inside the deepest areas of Brasil. The terratenientes or fazendeiros get the lands to the farmers, and then they need to emigrate or can be killed by the gangs. They travel around the jungle, by terrible roads. Many times the trucks drivers raped and kidnapers the girls and give to the mafias for the prostitution [I want shot this part of the emigratoion way] When the family arrived to the big city [in this case Salvador de Bahia] from a long a strong travel,  the fathers look for a job, a relatives or friends. In many cases they go to live in the mountains near the cities in big borroughs with thousands of poor people [favelas].
back to start
Not easy  work for a photographer in the streets. The crimes in Salvador de Bahia was high everyday, but  in first week I dont took any picture. Just only  I make friends to open doors. After second week I began to shot with the Nikons FM2. By nights I make small prints in the room of hotel in a old enlarger krokus. The prints was 10x15 or less that I gave as a present to the people to the next day. I got the trust of the people. Many photographers arrive, take the pictures and gone. The poor people dont understand it, and I think that if you are in a city trying to make a documentary work need make relationships friendly.
The meninos of sisal work by day and by night. They dont have time to go to the school and  they are very poor. In the left picture a menino work the sisal manufactured. The right picture is a gay working in th street of Salvador. All night I was walking by this street. The gays ask me for sex, but  I told them that I not interested.
In this places work the mafias. If you want a place to install your home you need pay for it. If the family dont have money  the mafias take the daughter and sons to the prostitution or to sell drugs. Some ONG's are working in defense of the children. In the left picture two kids work in the sisal plant  that is collected to make diferents products. They dont go the school and are very poor. In the right picture a children was killed by a gang because he didnt pay the money of drugs [Barrio de Pela Porco, Salvador de Bahia]
The picture of left was taken in one police station in Salvador. The guys was arrested for rape and killed girls. I took the picture with the guns that they used before. The local photographers  go everyday to the police station to take this kind of pictures. To the next day the local newspaper publish the pics. "They are proud of this, because the families can see them in the newspapers. many of this guys dont have relatives or are alone in the life" told me a  policeman. The right picture is in a danger area of Salvador, in the borrough of Beiru, where the organised crime have the control. The police dont like entry in this place. Only the special forces can do.
One night one of them stop me to talk. We had a interesant chat, and I explained them my project. After one hour the gay told me: Ok, take me a picture, I am the queen of this street, you are lucky".
After finish this first time project I was giving lectures in many places.
The problem of meninos de rua is not only in Salvador or Brasil. I know more collegues photographers working in this ideas. perhaps one day we can join all in a big exhibition.