Andrew Johnson

Documentary Photographer + Filmmaker

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Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Nationality: Canadian

Biography: Andrew (b. 1987) is a documentary photographer, videographer and multimedia journalist based between his native Canada and adopted Brazil. After a four-year stint in the Canadian army followed by a contract as a bartender on a Disney cruise ship,... MORE

The REDUC petrochemical refiner...ndemnity ordered by the state.

The REDUC petrochemical refinery is under investigation for dumping chemical waste into the Guanabara. In 2000 it was site of a massive oil spill in the bay from one of its transport pipes that spilt millions of litres of crude oil that the bay has still yet to recover from. To date, many fishermen have not received their indemnity ordered by the state.

Gilciney Gomes, a fisherman of ...ing are no longer sustainable.

Gilciney Gomes, a fisherman of the Guanabara for over forty years, bails out toxic water from his small fishing boat near the mouth of the river Sarapuí in the northwestern region of the bay, the most polluted. President of the Fishing Colony of Duque de Caxias, a suburban municipality north of Rio proper, his fellow fishermen have suffered the brunt of pollution and government inaction at ground zero of the 2000 oil spill, next to one of Brazil's largest petrochemical refineries and in an area dominated by militia and traffickers. Gomes now collects recyclables found in the mangrove to sell as fishing and crabbing are no longer sustainable.

Trash found on the margins of t...anabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro.

Trash found on the margins of the polluted Sarapuí river, home to a threatened mangrove forest in a heavily industrialized section of the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro.

A bio-technician takes a sample...ab population has disappeared.

A bio-technician takes a sample of polluted water thought to be leeched from a nearby clandestine trash dump in an area controlled by organized crime. The slurry from the deactivated Jardim Gramacho, once Latin America's largest landfill on the banks of the Guanabara Bay has been seeping into the bay and is thought to be one of the main reasons the crab population has disappeared.

Gilciney Gomes, a fisherman of the Guanabara for over forty years, washes himself from a tampered water main next to the polluted river Sarapuí in the northwestern region of the bay, the most polluted. President of the Fishing Colony of Duque de Caxias, a suburban municipality north of Rio proper, his fellow fishermen have suffered the brunt of pollution and government inaction at ground zero of the 2000 oil spill, next to one of Brazil's largest petrochemical refineries and in an area dominated by militia and traffickers. Gomes now collects recyclables found in the mangrove to sell as fishing and crabbing are no longer sustainable.

A fisherman shows the scars on ...s into the bay and its rivers.

A fisherman shows the scars on his legs thought to be a result of repeated exposure to toxic water in the Guanabara Bay and its tributaries in the municipality of Duque de Caxias. The suburb north of Rio de Janeiro was home to the 200 oil spill, a huge petrochemical refinery and dozens of heavy industries that have been dumping toxic chemicals into the bay and its rivers.

Gilciney Gomes, a fisherman of the Guanabara for over forty years, rows his small fishing boat near the mouth of the river Sarapuí in the northwestern region of the bay, the most polluted. President of the Fishing Colony of Duque de Caxias, a suburban municipality north of Rio proper, his fellow fishermen have suffered the brunt of pollution and government inaction at ground zero of the 2000 oil spill, next to one of Brazil's largest petrochemical refineries and in an area dominated by militia and traffickers. Gomes now collects recyclables found in the mangrove to sell as fishing and crabbing are no longer sustainable.

Polluted mud on the shoes of cr...ial suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.

Polluted mud on the shoes of crabber Gilciney Gomes, who supported his family as a crabber and artisanal fisherman but who know is forced to collect recycleable material from the remaining mangrove forests on the margins of the polluted Sarapuí river, in the industrial suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.

The mouth of the polluted Sarap...l periphery of Rio de Janeiro.

The mouth of the polluted Sarapuí river and the remaining mangrove forest under threat on the margins of the Guanabara Bay in the havily polluted region of Duque de Caxias in the industrial periphery of Rio de Janeiro.

Sediment and organic matter bui...f metropolitan Rio de Janeiro.

Sediment and organic matter built up over years of pollution in the Guanabara Bay near the industrial suburb of Duque de Caxias, in the far north of metropolitan Rio de Janeiro.

The polluted margins of the rem...n metropolitan Rio de Janeiro.

The polluted margins of the remaining mangrove forests in the industrial suburb of Duque de Caxias in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro.

A Black-crowned night heron (Ny...egraded due to human activity.

A Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) searches for food during the pre-dawn low tide near the X10 fishing colony on Governor's Island in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 2022. Fauna like the night heron are increasingly at risk of extinction due to plummeting fish stocks and biodiversity in the most polluted parts of the bay. The Atlantic rainforest biome, which the Guanabara belongs, is equally biodiverse and degraded due to human activity.

A couch sits in the Canal de Fu...ld, albeit at varying degrees.

A couch sits in the Canal de Fundão, the most heavily polluted part of the Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2022. The nature of Rio's topography, social inequality, lack of basic sanitation and sewage treatment infrastructure and generally poor levels of environmental education, impunity and lack of accountability and the resultant public apathy makes halting pollution, let alone reversing it, an uphill battle. In many ways, environmental destruction in Rio is emblematic of both the social and political issues facing not only Brazil and the world, albeit at varying degrees.

The margins of the Guanabara Ba...anding city. São Gonçalo Brazil

The margins of the Guanabara Bay as seen from the metropolitan Rio suburb of São Gonçalo. The native mangrove forests that once covered the Guanabara have largely been replaced by an ever expanding city. São Gonçalo Brazil

Polluted sediment and organic m...opolitan Rio de Janeiro. Brazil

Polluted sediment and organic material flowing into the Guanabara Bay in São Gonçalo, metropolitan Rio de Janeiro. Brazil

Fishermen who have lost their l...tened by increasing pollution.

Fishermen who have lost their livelihoods due to pollution participate in a trash collection program funded by an Italian NGO, where they weigh trash they collected from the margins of the Guanabara bay, much of which is still covered by native mangrove that is threatened by increasing pollution.

A worker for a local gas compan...of revitalizing the ecosystem.

A worker for a local gas company plants mangroves as part of its sustainability commitments in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2022. The area includes the officially deactivated Jardim Gramacho garbage dump, which continues operating clandestinly, and which puts workers and the project at risk due to powerful criminal gangs in the city, adding to the complications of revitalizing the ecosystem.

Biologist Mario Moscatelli, rig...n Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2022.

Biologist Mario Moscatelli, right, supervises the work of a colleague replanting degraded mangroves in the polluted Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2022.

Garbage that has penetrated the...the soil's gas recycling.

Garbage that has penetrated the protective screen of a project to protect the remaining mangrove forest near the deactivated Jardim Gramacho dump in the industrial suburb of Rio de Janeiro. The garbage threatens the mangroves by choking off their roots and preventing the soil's gas recycling.

Biologist Mario Moscatelli pose...ow I have to keep going."

Biologist Mario Moscatelli poses for a portrait next to the first mangrove tree he first planted in 1995 in the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2022. Moscatelli has been working to replant and revive the mangrove forests that once covered the Guanabara's coastline, predating the 500 year-old city of Rio de Janeiro, but his dream is still far from assured. "It's a drop in the bucket, compared to what needs to be done. Sometimes I get so depressed about everything, but then I come here [to the mangroves], and the trees calm me. I see the wildlife returning and I know I have to keep going."

Construction of condominiums in...s at conservation and revival.

Construction of condominiums in the wealthy suburb of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro's west zone, with the Tijuca lake and remnants of its native mangrove forest in the foreground. Rampant construction, some of it unregulated and even illegal, is one of the biggest challenges facing the city's mangrove forests and attempts at conservation and revival.

The polluted margins of the rem...cts are struggling to reverse.

The polluted margins of the remaining mangrove forests in the industrial suburb of Duque de Caxias in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro. disappearing mangrove forest in the Tijuca lake region in the wealthy suburb of Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro's west zone. The region suffered an explosion in development in the turn of the century but without the necessary environmental protection for mangrove ecosystems which conservation and reforestation projects are struggling to reverse.

The neighbourghood of Rio das P... with sprawl that much harder.

The neighbourghood of Rio das Pedras, in Rio de Janeiro's growing West end, Brazil 2022. The favela is emblematic of Rio's haphazard, unplanned, unsafe and illegal land use and development history. The neighbourhood is the stronghold of one of Rio's most powerful and violent criminal organizations, the militia, who terrorize both residents and rival gangs. They famously encourage clandestine construction and illegal condominiums in their neghbourhoods which contribute to local environmental destruction and public health concerns. Their use of violence and intimidation as well as their connections to powerful politicians makes an already difficult problem in dealing with sprawl that much harder.

A view of the Guanabara Bay and...ion threatened its extinction.

A view of the Guanabara Bay and Rio de Janeiro's port region and Governor's Island and the coastal mountain range beyond. Much of the bay was historically covered by native mangrove forest like that found on the small islandin the foreground until decades of development and urban expansion threatened its extinction.

Pollution flowing from the Cunh...s port area and Guanabara Bay.

Pollution flowing from the Cunha canal into Rio de Janeiro's port area and Guanabara Bay.

An illegal garbage dump encroac...Janeiro and Brazil in general.

An illegal garbage dump encroaching on the protected mangrove forest in the industrial Duque de Caxias region of Rio de Janeiro. Poor government oversight, economic inequality corruption and a culture of impunity are some of the factors inhibiting the enforcement of environmental laws in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil in general.