sabato 27 luglio 2013

THE DEVIL'S CALDRON | ANDRÉ CYPRIANO

Ilha Grande, Big Island, is an unspoiled paradise off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Waterfalls cascade from jungle covered mountains into a turquoise ocean that surrounds 107 white-sand beaches. Returning several times in my youth, I imagined this was how Brazil looked before its discovery in 1500.

DCGAL01O Vermelhão - The Big Red, as this bull was called, stands in front of the entrance door. Except over the surrounding walls, from this point on there were no guards. The leaders of the criminal organization Comando Vermelho - C.V., Red Command, controlled all those incarcerated.

DCGAL02 Caldeirão do Diabo - Devil's Caldron, Abandonada - Abandoned, and Maldita - Accursed, were all nicknames that identified this hellish place.

DCGAL03
The penitentiary of Cândido Mendes, held hundreds of inmates with some of the darkest reputations; and stories of violent deaths, tortures and rapes. It's confinement was condemned by United Nations.


Contrasting with the innocence and tranquility of the island was a prison known as The Devil's Caldron; the place on earth where heaven ended and hell began. It held hundreds of inmates with some of the darkest reputations; and stories of violent deaths, tortures and rapes.

DCGAL04 The dirty walls from the kitchen was scarred with bullet holes and marked with traces of the fires, rebellions, and innumerous fights that earned this place a historic reputation as one of the most notorious prisons in the world.

DCGAL05Because they barely had space inside their rooms, the inmates used the corridor as part of their cell.

DCGAL06 In April of 1994, after eight months of my witnesses and 53 years of the prison's function, the entire inmate population was transferred off the island and the building demolished.

It was inside The Devil's Caldron, during Brazil's military dictatorship, that the government made an historic mistake. Imprisoning militant revolutionaries together with common criminals. A policy which instigated the evolution of the Comando Vermelho - C.V.; the largest criminal organization in Brazil.

DCGAL07 Even surrounded by over 600 inmates one can feel alone.

DCGAL08It was inside The Devil's Caldron, during Brazil's military dictatorship, that the government made a historic mistake. Imprisoning militant revolutionaries together with common criminals. A policy which instigated the evolution of the Comando Vermelho - C.V.; the largest criminal organization in Brazil.

DCGAL09 Cell Window

After nearly a decade, I returned to Ilha Grande, not to enjoy the beauty of paradise but to share the experience of 600 inmates living inside the Penal Institution of Candido Mendes. My concern was to document the prison before its closure. I had been told that the government wanted to erase the memory of its wretched past by sending the inmates to the mainland and demolishing the heavily deteriorated structure.

DCGAL10 Inside one cell

DCGAL11Between the porno photos, on each wall, was one framed image of the saint Nossa Senhora Aparecida, The National Patroness of Brazil. On the table there is a picture of his wife set next to a hand made lamp.

DCGAL12Steam comes out from the big Caldron, spreading all through the kitchen. A sweaty prisoner uses a huge wooden spoon to stir the food. There are cockroaches all around. On the floor, I a rat ran from one side to the other. "Those rats are everywhere. At night in my room, I sometimes put food for them by my bed so they can leave me to sleep in peace", said one inmate.

I attempted to capture the unguarded dark image of life inside the Devil's Caldron. My hope is to reflect the pain and desolate loneliness inmates felt when serving time - time in a prison surrounded by a paradise that teased them with what was forbidden.

DCGAL13 Serving lunch.

DCGAL14The refectory had several concrete tables and benches, but most of them were broken during riots, which obligated the prisoners to eat standing.

DCGAL15  Refectory after lunch.

In April of 1994, after eight months of my observation and 53 years of the prison's function, the entire inmate population was transferred off the island and the building demolished.


All  Photos © André Cypriano






















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venerdì 26 luglio 2013

NEW WILD SEA | FRANCO GUARDASCIONE

Naples coast sea pollution from Castelvolturno to Pozzuoli has been filed away. The depuration system in Cuma is not working as it should, throwing into the sea every kind of rubbish. Naples beaches are apocalyptic places covered by abandoned dust and stray dog moving through it. This is certainly one of the biggest Italian environmental disaster surely ignored as its land, the south of Italy.

clip_image002clip_image004Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 11 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 12 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 13 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 16 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 17 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 18 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 19 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 20 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 21 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 22 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples. 23 Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples.  14  clip_image006Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples.1 5Italy. Naples. Garbage has been brought by the sea on a trait of free beach beside Naples.

Images & Text © Franco Guardascione

Fonte


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giovedì 25 luglio 2013

DAVID ALAN HARVEY | PHOTOGRAPHER

Born in San Francisco, David Alan Harvey was raised in Virginia and completed his undergraduate degree at the Richmond branch of the College of William and Mary.
From there he moved to Missouri, receiving his graduate degree from the Missouri School of Journalism. In 1969 he began to work for the Topeka Capital-Journal in Kansas, where he was encouraged to photograph in color. A grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts gave him the means to pursue a wide variety of stories, including a year-long reportage of Virginia Beach.
Harvey has photographed more than 40 articles for National Geographic, beginning with a story about Tangier Island, Virginia, in the November 1973 issue of the magazine. He has since covered a wide range of subjects, including hip-hop music, Vietnam, North Carolina's Outer Banks, Tokyo, Grenada, Malaysia, the Puget Sound, the Maya, stock car racing, and Barcelona.
In 1978, Harvey was named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He has lectured and led seminars at various universities and has conducted many workshops, including the Santa Fe Workshop, the Annual Photographic Seminar in Steamboat Springs, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Missouri Workshop, and the Maine Photographic Workshop.
Harvey's work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Nikon Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His photographs have appeared in Life, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated. He has published two books, Cuba and Divided Soul.
Harvey joined Magnum Photos as an associate in 1993 and became a member in 1997. He is based in New York. photography.nationalgeographic

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All images © David Alan Harvey / Magnum Photos

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