It was 2011 when I began working on the streets of Brazil with marginalized populations. As a photographer this included documenting life in the margins and inviting these beautiful people to tell their story with me. I had no idea the way they would be affected by the megaevents hosted in their country over the next 5 years (the Olympics and World Cup). I’ve always been a huge Olympic fan, without context for the other side of the event, the stories that unfolded behind mainstream news coverage. The Olympics are a narrative of our interconnected cultures. Rio 2016 opened with camera shots from above Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the seven wonders of our world. What profoundly marked the Rio games were relocation issues and wars over the favelas, which were created partially in response to the way slavery in Brazil had ended. However, few know that Christ the Redeemer was built in honor of Princess Isabella who is credited with ending slavery in Brazil. She was married to a French prince, and the statue was sculpted in France before being shipped across the Atlantic. There is controversy over Isabella’s motives for ending slavery – and so it seems fitting that the princess decided there should not be a statue of herself built on the mountain, but of Jesus who she declared, “Is the true liberator of mankind”.
Skip ahead to Paris 2024 hosting their 3rd games on the anniversary of France’s liberation during WWII. The slogan for this year is “games wide open” with a focus of shifting attention out of the stadiums and into the streets; ideally making the events accessible for everyone in the city. However, according to many reports, this has not been the case for the homeless and street workers who have again allegedly faced mass evictions. There is a new narrative unfolding that goes beyond sports as we chase this dream of a positive social legacy for all citizens.
