Rio de Janeiro is the face of Brazil. The country's second-largest city, population nine million, was the imperial capital and port of entry for tens of millions of African slaves, more than any other during the transatlantic trade. A magnet for wealthy tourists and poor migrants alike, even in economic and political decline Rio de Janeiro remains seductive for its vibrant culture and natural beauty. It is also a city divided, a poster child for the country's endemic inequality, corruption and injustice. As international media attention evaporated after the Rio2016 Olympics, hope for the city's long-awaited revival was replaced by a hangover of broken dreams, a deep economic recession and the resurgence of the a reactionary conservatism.
The favela pacification program has failed and corruption remains even with four of the last five governors in jail. Organized crime, now stronger than ever, has expanding violently into the suburbs and has infiltrated all levels of government. Both essential infrastructure and cultural patrimony crumble as much needed development projects lie abandoned. In March of 2018, a rising progressive star in city hall, councilwoman Marielle Franco, was brutally murdered together with her driver, on her way home from a discussion on empowering black women in politics. Nobody doubts that the militia – a paramilitary mafia linked to right-wing politicians, soldiers and police – of carrying out the assassination. The murderous shadow arm of a corrupt state currently controls over half the city.
In 2019 Brazil inaugurated rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro, himself a resident of Rio, in a wave of revanchist conservative sentiment. The Bolsonaro family, with its connections to the militia that murdered Marielle, represents the most insidious reactionary groups in Brazilian society. His election and those of his allies brought the return of heavy-handed, law-and-order policies from the days of the military dictatorship. Few progressives expected any sympathy for the poor or marginalized in Rio, and those fears have since been justified: a conservative governor ordered police snipers to shoot suspects from helicopters while a pentecostal mayor did little except favour his evangelical electorate. A returning Olympic mayor promised to continue his neoliberal project encouraging privatization and real estate speculation in a city severely lacking in public housing, basic sanitation and jobs.
The project title comes from a chapter in Juliana Barbassa's 2016 memoir of the seductive and chaotic city in the run-up to the 2016 Olympic games. Even in those heady days of optimism, she saw the cracks starting to form. In that same spirit, this work aims to document a critical period of Rio's history between the post-Olympics hangover, to the election of Bolsonaro and beyond, with a focus on the periphery, far from the iconic beaches and Christ the Redeemer, where the majority working class of the city lives. What will become of the 'cidade maravilhosa', beautiful and broken?
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A man takes a selfie in front of fireworks at Copacabana beach during the 2018/2019 New Year's Eve celebrations, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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, Brazil -- Dec. 1, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
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Demonstrators mourn the loss of slain city councilwoman Marielle Franco, in front of the municipal legislature in downtown Rio de Janeiro, March 15th, 2018. A well-known feminist and LGBT activist and fierce critic of police brutality and violence against the favelas, Franco and her driver were murdered the previous night in a drive-by shooting shortly after leaving a roundtable discussion on empowering black women in local politics. It is widely believed among her supporters that the powerful organized crime group with links to police, known as 'militias', were behind her assassination but so far police have yet to arrest any suspects.
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Students observe the damage of the National Museum the day after it was gutted by a fire due to lack of funding for maintenance and fire prevention. Rio de Janeiro, Sept., 2018.
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A group of young kids in the favela Pica-Pau in the far north of Rio de Janeiro, Feb., 2018. The community is on the front line in a turf war between rival gangs. The police and military are practically never around, only when the gang that doesn't pay them off gains the upper hand. "There's lots of shootings here, all the time," says Uesli, 9.
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, Brazil -- Residents of the Manuel Congo housing occupation in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 19, 2018. Photo by Andrew Christian Johnson
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, Brazil -- Sep. 2, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
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, Brazil -- Dec. 8, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
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, Brazil -- Sep. 29, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
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, Brazil -- Oct. 20, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
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The João Batista Cemetery in the wealthy Botafogo neighbourhood, overlooked by the Tabajaras favela in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro, April 12, 2018. According to the Ministry of Health, more than sixty thousand people were killed in the state of Rio between 2006 and 2016, with 2017 being the worst year in the past decade, mirroring the nationwide trend of rising violence. While the state capital itself is relatively low on the list of the most violent cities in the country, certain neighbourhoods within the city and municipalities within the greater metropolis, like the Baixada Fluminense, have very high relative levels of violence.
A man takes a selfie in front of fireworks at Copacabana beach during the 2018/2019 New Year's Eve celebrations, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
, Brazil -- Dec. 1, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
Demonstrators mourn the loss of slain city councilwoman Marielle Franco, in front of the municipal legislature in downtown Rio de Janeiro, March 15th, 2018. A well-known feminist and LGBT activist and fierce critic of police brutality and violence against the favelas, Franco and her driver were murdered the previous night in a drive-by shooting shortly after leaving a roundtable discussion on empowering black women in local politics. It is widely believed among her supporters that the powerful organized crime group with links to police, known as 'militias', were behind her assassination but so far police have yet to arrest any suspects.
Students observe the damage of the National Museum the day after it was gutted by a fire due to lack of funding for maintenance and fire prevention. Rio de Janeiro, Sept., 2018.
A group of young kids in the favela Pica-Pau in the far north of Rio de Janeiro, Feb., 2018. The community is on the front line in a turf war between rival gangs. The police and military are practically never around, only when the gang that doesn't pay them off gains the upper hand. "There's lots of shootings here, all the time," says Uesli, 9.
, Brazil -- Residents of the Manuel Congo housing occupation in the centre of Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 19, 2018. Photo by Andrew Christian Johnson
, Brazil -- Sep. 2, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
, Brazil -- Dec. 8, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
, Brazil -- Sep. 29, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
, Brazil -- Oct. 20, 2016. Photo by Andrew C. Johnson
The João Batista Cemetery in the wealthy Botafogo neighbourhood, overlooked by the Tabajaras favela in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro, April 12, 2018. According to the Ministry of Health, more than sixty thousand people were killed in the state of Rio between 2006 and 2016, with 2017 being the worst year in the past decade, mirroring the nationwide trend of rising violence. While the state capital itself is relatively low on the list of the most violent cities in the country, certain neighbourhoods within the city and municipalities within the greater metropolis, like the Baixada Fluminense, have very high relative levels of violence.