Jaír F. Coll

Documentary photographer
   
Exhibition at Paris Photo with Polaroid and Magnum
News
Exhibition at Paris Photo with Polaroid and Magnum
jaír f. coll
Nov 22, 2024
Summary
Polaroid x Magnum exhibited my story 'Samara, a Zika's daugther' as part of their project 'Real life is not in black and white' at Paris Photo 2024, in the Grand Palais.
My story, 'Samara, a Zika's daughter,' was exhibited at Paris Photo 2024 as part of the project 'Real life is not black in black and white' by Polaroid and Magnum. After being chosen as one of the 10 global winners of the open call, I received a Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera and 12 packs of Polaroid i-Type BW Film to produce a "perspective-changing story they believe will help people see life in all shades of gray."

Back in 2019, I documented the life of Samara, a girl with Zika-related microcephaly in Cali, Colombia. This condition causes Samara to have a 97% disability, forcing her to cope with delayed physical and neurological development, severe spasticity, lack of musculature, and other symptoms.

Now, at 7 years old, Samara’s family continues to strive to provide her with a dignified life despite a condition that will last throughout her life.

In opening a new chapter in this documentary project, I photographed their journey in Black and White Polaroids, in which the family intervened with drawings and scratchings to illustrate how they bring color to Samara's life. This is more than a story about a girl and her mother, Eliana, her sister, Briana and her father, Jean-Paul: it's a project that points to a pandemic that provoked more than 2,400 cases of congenital syndrome in Latin America in 2016. This event is almost forgotten by the media and public health system throughout the continent, so Samara's piece of life reminds us that we cannot leave these families unattended.

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Exhibition at Paris Photo with Polaroid and Magnum by Jaír F. Coll
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