Adriana Loureiro Fernández, Paradise Lost
The Venezuelan photographer (born 1988) describes the desolate situation in the South American country as a sort of personal diary. She has been documenting her homeland’s collapse for around ten years. Poverty, inflation, violence, but also the hope of a young generation who have not – compared to many others – abandoned the country. “Somewhere between the beauty and the horror is Paradise Lost,” as the photographer says.
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19 Images
01
Road to Punta de Mata, illuminated by massive gas flares, making it the brightest spot in the country, Venezuela 2022
02
Under a sky lit by gas flares, Jalismar Villaruel plays animal lottery with her neighbours and two children, Punta de Mata 2022
03
Young mothers with their babies. Venezuela has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world, Caracas 2019
04
Saida Bravo (45), who suffers from acute malnutrition, enjoys the sunlight, Maracaibo 2019
05
Yrelys Jiménez (38) and her son (2). As a full-time teacher she earns around six dollars per month, San Diego de los Altos 2023
06
After school, Clarelys López-Jiménez (4) rests on the bed she shares with the family of four, San Diego de los Altos 2023
07
After school, children walk among the remains of 17 houses that caught fire during a blackout in Petare, Caracas 2019
08
Magaly Lozano reunites with her cousin Florinda Baez for the first time since both were displaced in 2018, Yauruna 2021
09
The sun sets over a busy street market, Caracas 2023
10
A girl stands among the tombstones as her uncle is buried in a mass grave, Valencia 2018
11
Heavily armed police forces do a stop-and-frisk in the José Félix Ribas neighbourhood, Petare 2021
12
Yrelys Jiménez holds her son and her daughter on the bed that the family shares, San Diego de los Altos 2023
13
Men scavenge for food in a large waste container during a busy afternoon in Petare, a working-class neighbourhood, Caracas 2023
14
With the Cardón refinery burning in the background, fishermen repair their nets before sailing, Punto Fijo 2020
15
Diego, Manuel, and Miguel Méndez fish next to dead fish in Lake Maracaibo, to help their mother feed the family, Cabimas 2019
16
Luis Javier (9) and Luis David (8) play on the shores of Lake Maracaibo, stained with algae blooms and crude oil, Cabimas 2019
17
Yon Medina dives from an abandoned oil structure into algae bloom-covered Lake Maracaibo, Cabimas 2019
18
Attaiz Bellorín (33) digs the sand in search of gold while children play around her, Guaca 2020
19
Kely Vicuña (18) and Darwin Contreras (19) fled from Venezuela to Peru after being political prisoners, Tacna, Peru 2017
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