by photographer Christian Cravo 2000 FiftyCrows PhotoFund Winner
There is a vast desert in the northern part of Brazil called the Sertão. It is a place where distances are great and access is difficult, for the roads are few and infra-structure is nonexistent. It is a land where religion and faith have played a decisive role since colonial times. Huge and visually fantastic pilgrimages are held each year in many different locations to enable the faithful to pray and ask for forgiveness. Crucifixes are seen at every corner. Catholic churches are spread out in all towns, and even the smallest village has a house of God. There are dozens of sects and religious difference is often ill-defined. Thousands live there, in one of Brazil’s most poverty-stricken regions, cut out from the rest of the country. In Sertão, where the land is dry and rain never falls, the natives struggle on towards an uncertain future. It is a place that has inspired me more than any other place I know.
My intention as a photographer is to register and “focus” in black and white a Christian society, living and worshipping an archaic religion with roots going back as far as Africa. Now closing in on the “jubilee,” completing two thousand years of Christ’s existence, I feel the time is right to acknowledge the world’s largest catholic population in it’s most sacred spot ( the Sertao).
My goal with this project is mainly twofold; first, to act as a photographic “balance” by trying to objectively document this religious society and, second, to bring attention to this area, Brazil’s “third-world.” In the next four years, I plan to expand this research to remote areas of the Amazon, the Andes and Central America.
The photographs, friendships and knowledge I’ve been able to cultivate over the last five years have allowed me to address this issue and convey it to others as an insider. It’s an important opportunity for many to see how people live in this country and continent.
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