Vai com Deus 1 - Olympic Rio de Janeiro

see below

‘Vai com deus’ is a common form of saying good-bye in Brazil.

Beginning in 2011, Rio de Janeiro’s housing authority, Secretaria Municipal de Habitação (SMH), has forced evictions in many of Rio’s favelas citing plans to “upgrade the city’s infrastructure” and make space for projects related to hosting the World Cup (2014) and 2016 Olympic Games.
Even though many favela-dwellers do own title to the land on which they are living, they are often unaware of their rights to defend themselves against the City’s pressure to accept unfair compensation in exchange for leaving their homes and neighborhoods. The payments offered are often menial and the replacement housing is rental-based, adding financial strain on the families. Further, the replacement housing is located in disparate locations that break up communities, interrupt the ability of parents to send their children to school, and enable parents to maintain their jobs in the City-center. Once a family leaves their home, it is immediately destroyed to prevent occupation by others. Thus, the disintegration of a neighborhood begins.

I developed a plan to document the issue on a human level through natural, environmental portraits taken in the communities, often in front of the houses marked for removal by SMH. Other portraits are more staged: they feature residents holding maritime emergency torches. My research into symbols representing keywords like “freedom”, “emergency”, “liberty”, “olympic spirit”, “community”, “independence and “resistance” led me to the image of the torch-bearer, which crosses the entire spectrum of those idea(l)s and is widely recognized. These photographs juxtapose the notion of celebration and togetherness as represented by the Olympic Flame with those of emergency and resistance.

When I spent time in some of those favelas - vibrant, welcoming neighborhoods - to portray the people and places threatened by eviction, as well as
the locals organizing their neighbors in resistance to the housing authority’s abuse of power, their good-bye stuck with me: ‘Vai com deus’ - spoken softly yet with intent to me and my guide Cafe by the very people who are in the most precarious situation of knowing they will most likely lose their family-home at some point in the very near
future and cannot do much to avoid it:
The well-wishing goodbye represented somewhat of a reversal of roles in
that very moment, and it pointed to the broader experience I had in sharing their space and stories:

Throughout the struggle to recognize the city officials’ latest tactics to seed insecurity
and fear amongst the residents in an effort to erode the community; throughout the lengthy and frustrating struggle to avoid eviction and to ultimately keep the home so many of my subjects have grown up in, they all showed a deep-seated optimism and sense of hope - and even an eagerness to be a positive part of Rio’s changing landscape and a profound human warmth remains with them.

Marc Ohrem-Leclef

Research for “Vai com Deus” began in early 2012; after connecting with local NGO’s that provided contacts to residents, I photographed during two stays in Rio ( 2012 and 2013) in 18 favelas and a newly built replacement housing complex.

The entire body of work is due to be published by DAYLIGHT BOOKS, NY.