honorable mention
Valerio Bispuri italyPhoto © Valerio Bispuri
title
Paco
This drug is made with the residue of cocaine mixed with more harmful substances such as dust or glass halogen lamps burned.
Born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where it costs only 5 pesos per dose, it soon spread to other countries. Most affected are children from 12 to 17 years. The great tragedy is that this deadly drug was released from the poorest areas and now is becoming a kind of unstoppable epidemic.
The Paco is a white pebble, a very small stone, that melts in a tube of metal, consisting of the residue of cocaine combined to the ground glass.
Apparently it could seem normal cocaine but its effect is ten times more powerful and instantaneous. In a short time dependence is total and the effects are devastating: the addicts’ bodies become scrawny, the teeth are falling down, their eyes are staring into space, until they choke.
It's like a shock, a grip that lasts few seconds. There is no escape for those who smoke it, they become cannibals of life, always dazed.
Lomas de Zamora is one of the suburbs of Buenos Aires most affected by Paco. Children move like wolves among the dark alleys of the shanty town to get as many "stones" as possible. The day begins at night. They wake up when the sun goes down and begins the hunt. There are no rules or laws. Everything can become a "commodity" exchange to get the drug. Paco leaves no chance to think.
The feeling of omnipotence and nullity, at the same time, makes them masters and slaves.
He worked for ten years on “Encerrados”, a long term photographic project on life conditions in 74 prisons across all the countries in South American, describing with an anthropological and journalistic approach the inmates’ reality. This work has been exhibited at Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, University of Geneva, Browse Festival in Berlin and, in October 2014, at the Bronx Documentary Center of New York (finalist at FotoEvidence Award). In November 2014 “Encerrados” became a book published by Contrasto (2nd prize at IPA 2015, Professional: Book, Documentary).
During these years, Valerio Bispuri has been working on another important long-term project, denouncing the diffusion and the effects of a new low-cost drug called “Paco” that is killing an entire generation of youths in the suburbs of South American cities. The work on “Paco” has been exhibited in Rome, Milan and Istanbul (catalogue published by International Green Cross).
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entry description
The project, lasted 8 years, aims at investigating the drug world in South America. Paco is a drug, firstly appeared in Argentina, killing thousand of children. Now it is spreading in all the Country.This drug is made with the residue of cocaine mixed with more harmful substances such as dust or glass halogen lamps burned.
Born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where it costs only 5 pesos per dose, it soon spread to other countries. Most affected are children from 12 to 17 years. The great tragedy is that this deadly drug was released from the poorest areas and now is becoming a kind of unstoppable epidemic.
The Paco is a white pebble, a very small stone, that melts in a tube of metal, consisting of the residue of cocaine combined to the ground glass.
Apparently it could seem normal cocaine but its effect is ten times more powerful and instantaneous. In a short time dependence is total and the effects are devastating: the addicts’ bodies become scrawny, the teeth are falling down, their eyes are staring into space, until they choke.
It's like a shock, a grip that lasts few seconds. There is no escape for those who smoke it, they become cannibals of life, always dazed.
Lomas de Zamora is one of the suburbs of Buenos Aires most affected by Paco. Children move like wolves among the dark alleys of the shanty town to get as many "stones" as possible. The day begins at night. They wake up when the sun goes down and begins the hunt. There are no rules or laws. Everything can become a "commodity" exchange to get the drug. Paco leaves no chance to think.
The feeling of omnipotence and nullity, at the same time, makes them masters and slaves.
about the photographer
Valerio Bispuri was born in Rome in 1971 and after graduating in Literature he decided to devote himself to photography. A professional reporter since 2001, he collaborates with numerous Italian and international magazines, among which L’Espresso, Venerdì di Repubblica, Internazionale, Le Monde, Stern. He has carried out reportages in Africa, Asia, Middle East, but it is in Latin America that Valerio worked the longest, living in Buenos Aires for more than a decade.He worked for ten years on “Encerrados”, a long term photographic project on life conditions in 74 prisons across all the countries in South American, describing with an anthropological and journalistic approach the inmates’ reality. This work has been exhibited at Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, University of Geneva, Browse Festival in Berlin and, in October 2014, at the Bronx Documentary Center of New York (finalist at FotoEvidence Award). In November 2014 “Encerrados” became a book published by Contrasto (2nd prize at IPA 2015, Professional: Book, Documentary).
During these years, Valerio Bispuri has been working on another important long-term project, denouncing the diffusion and the effects of a new low-cost drug called “Paco” that is killing an entire generation of youths in the suburbs of South American cities. The work on “Paco” has been exhibited in Rome, Milan and Istanbul (catalogue published by International Green Cross).
back to gallery