Somos todos altos aqui (We are all targets here)

“Somos todos alvos aqui”* (We are all targets here) is a crude and candid portrait project that comes with the goal of fanning the debate about police violence experienced by people from city outskirts and favelas throughout Brazil – people who, for the most part, are black-skinned. Daily tools and accessories are used as metaphor and refer to the deaths of persons killed by police officers who mistook a tool for a firearm. On Monday, September 17th, 2018, Rodrigo Alexandre da Silva Serrano was shot by police who allegedly mistook his umbrella for a rifle. What color was Rodrigo’s skin? I chose to photograph with a medium-format camera, and, on average, five to six poses were used for each character. All subjects depicted in this essay are from the city I live in, São Paulo. *The title of the essay is the chorus of rap “Estereótipo”, by MC Rashid.