Sunday, July 12, 2009

Adam Hilton








I found this artist while searching through StumbleUpon. These are some images by a photographer named Adam Hilton. It appears that he has done several photo studies in foreign countries such as China, Africa, and Cuba to name a few.

I choose a few of my favorite images from a series that focused around a favela in Rio. I love the colors in photographs. They are so rich and vibrant and the night shots complete the picture of the lighting you find in different parts of the city. When I was staying with my cousin Katie in Barra de Tijuca, we would drive by Rochina which is the largest favela in Rio. During the day you see all the hustle and bustle of people commuting from work and home as well as markets and people in their homes hanging out their windows to escape from the heat. It was kind of hard to focus on one because the drive by is so quick. You past by the favela while on a highway that takes you from one part of the city to the next and there is so much to see in such a short amount of time.

When you drive by at night, it transforms into the haven of millions that are captured only by tiny specs that light each area. I couldn't really wrap my head around the situation, how it possibly could be inhabited by over 2 million people in such a confined area?

I wanted to share these photos because it is nice to have a new perspective and be able to look inside and see their view to the rest of the city that is much different than mine.

Adam spoke of his work as follows: These are a collection of images taken from 2001-2004 in the favelas of Rio. The colour work is from the Tavares Bastos favela and forms the main focus of the project. I documented the lives of the majority of favela inhabitants away from the stereotypes of guns and drugs. He says his work is about the relationships between people and how they construct their lives under harsh social conditions.

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