Ricardo Lopes

Photographer

ricardolopesphoto.visura.co

Torre - Living in Darkness

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Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Nationality: Portugal

Biography: Contributor at Público Newspaper and The Guardian. Estação Imagem 2019 Portrait Series Award Winner. LensCulture Portrait Awards 2019 Finalist. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, 1990. Ricardo Lopes graduated in Photojournalism from... MORE

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Port...ctricity for almost two years.

1 of 5 © 2024 Ricardo Lopes

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Portugal, 6/3/2018 - Luisa dos Santos, 74, from Sao Tome e Principe poses for a portrait in
Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lisbon where approximately 200 people are living without electricity for almost two years.

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Port...be submitted to heart surgery.

2 of 5 © 2024 Ricardo Lopes

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Portugal, 6/3/2018 - Michael, 1, with his mother, Rosa Tavares, 32, from Sao Tome e Principe poses for a portrait in Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lisbon where approximately 200 people are living without electricity for almost two years. Michael suffers from cardiac insufficiency and Rosa brought him to Portugal so he can be submitted to heart surgery.

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Port...all I can give them."

3 of 5 © 2024 Ricardo Lopes

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Portugal, 6/3/2018 - Ricardina Cuthbert, from Sao Tome e Principe poses for a portrait in
Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lisbon where approximately 200 people are living without electricity for almost two years. Ricardina is the mother of 4 children, struggling to provide for them. "I only hope my children can have a better life than mine. My hope is all I can give them."

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Port...o be able to provide for them.

4 of 5 © 2024 Ricardo Lopes

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Portugal, 5/3/2018 - Aderito Cuthbert, from Sao Tome e Principe poses for a portrait in
Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lisbon where approximately 200 people are living without electricity for almost two years. Aderito is the father of 4 children and runs an ilegal restaurant with his wife, Ricardina, to be able to provide for them.

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Port...ctricity for almost two years.

5 of 5 © 2024 Ricardo Lopes

Bairro da Torre, Camarate, Portugal, 6/3/2018 - Flávia Rodrigues, 52, from Sao Tome e Principe poses for a portrait in Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lisbon where approximately 200 people are living without electricity for almost two years.

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Public Story

Torre - Living in Darkness

Copyright Ricardo Lopes 2024

Date of Work Jan 2018 - Mar 2018

Updated Apr 2019

Location Lisbon

Topics Abandonment, Black and White, Civil Rights, Discrimination, Documentary, Family, Homelessness, Hope, Human Rights, Immigration, Photography, Politics, Portraiture, Poverty, Racism

From Sao Tome to the outskirts of Lisbon, they’ve been promised dignity. Bairro da Torre, a shantytown in Camarate, is home to a São Toméan community brought to Portugal within the framework of a Medical Board between the Portuguese Government and that of Sao Tome’s to provide better health care to the population. Abandoned and forgotten, approximately 200 people live in extreme unhealthy conditions without electricity, and perpetuated to social exclusion and economic difficulties. In the absence of solutions for a rehousing that satisfies the residents, they remain living in a tight labyrinth of shacks, among garbage that keeps pilling up. In the dark, they keep waiting for the promised dignity.

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