The photographs contained in this album were made while I was living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from May - September, 2013 during an internship with the Associated Press. Although some of the images included were made while on assignment with the AP, many were also made on my own time and have become the foundations of a project that I will continue in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and beyond.
I find the transition that Brazil is currently undergoing to be one of the most fascinating stories on our planet today. To be in the streets in Rio while its citizens struggle to determine their future in one of the fastest growing economies on earth is to be living in history. Of course, civil unrest is not new to South America. But it was over twenty years ago that Brazil had their last public protest. It is for exactly this reason that one popular slogan during protests is "O gigante acordou" or "The giant has awoken."
Along with the historical precedent though, the protests have also ushered in a new wave of popular organization and the goals of each protest tend to be as diverse as the country itself. But the ongoing climate of political upheaval and change in Brazil - sometimes violent, other times chaotic, and every so often successful in achieving certain small goals- is more than simply historic. It's instructive in many ways and the global community at large stands only to gain from watching closely the dialogue between the people of Brazil and its government.
The photos I've submitted for review represent the beginnings of an attempt to form a document that might help people analyze and ultimately learn about Brazil and political unrest in the 21st century.
