Sharkification
Cristina de Middel
Editora Madalena
Hardcover
140 Pages
160 x 230 mm
2016
ISBN 9788569557074
Sharkification is about the “favelas” and the Brazilian government’s strategy to attempt to control them during the soccer World Cup by involving armed units. It created a militarisation of the communities, where suddenly everybody becomes a suspect. The shark metaphor aims to explain the dynamics into place. “I used the comparison with a submarine world to imagine that the favelas are a coral reef where there are predators…” When most of the photojournalists keep trying to play with feelings, Cristina de Middel uses humour, which seems to be a more intelligent way to look at things and that helps people becoming more curious.
About the Artist
Cristina de Middel (b. 1975) is a Spanish documentary photographer and artist living and working in Uruapan, Mexico. De Middel self-published The Afronauts in 2012, a photobook about the short-lived Zambian space program in Southern Africa. The book quickly sold out and the work was met with critical acclaim. She was nominated for the 2013 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for The Afronauts,. In 2013, de Middel received the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography. In 2017 she became a nominee member of Magnum Photos and in 2019 an associate member.
About the Publisher
Editora Madalena, founded in 2013, was born with a vocation to experiment and support contemporary production of special, Brazilian and Latin American photobooks.
