No Olho da Rua – In the eye of the street
Germain worked in collaboration with a number of other artists including Patricia Azevedo and Murilo Godoy and of course the children of the streets of Brazil. The project started in 1995 as an independent project as a way of giving a voice to the children through the use of a camera or writing. Over the years the project has managed to gather and document the lives of these children with the aim of exhibiting and causing change.
The following statement was made by Mark Sealy, the Director Autograph ABP and taken from Germain’s website and I think sums up the projects aims and reasons:
“The investment made in the production and delivery of this project highlights the raw return that can be extracted by simply allowing power relationships to be inverted. Rather than just being willing students, these kids have actively negotiated the terms in which they have allowed themselves to be seen; they have performed for the camera and pointed the camera. In many ways though, through the production and distribution of these photographs, the kids have become activists for social change. This newspaper therefore allows their experiences to transcend the street and be literally placed in the hands of those who all too readily ignore their very existence.”
The project hoped to see less homeless on the streets of Brazil but it seemed that the numbers have more than doubled, with similar figures around the world due to cross border migration of refugees, conflict and draught.
Bibliography
Websites accessed 25/05/2020
http://www.juliangermain.com/projects/no-olho.php
https://photoworks.org.uk/no-olho-da-rua-julian-germain-patricia-azevedo-and-murilo-godoy/
https://bildersturm.blog/2020/04/28/no-olho-da-rua-in-the-eye-of-the-street-morel-books-2020/
https:// photoworks.org.uk/no-olho-da-rua-julian-germain-patricia-azevedo-and-murilo-godoy/ #close-no
Michele Usher 