The faces of São Paulo`s Cracolândia

Most have already heard about São Paulo`s drug-ridden and infamous district of Cracolândia. Rarely does one get an insight look into this part of the city. Photographer Sebastian Palmer took some powerful shots of the people who live in Cracolândia, the city`s notorious crack district. 

Check out his website: http://www.sebastianpalmer.com/

About Sebastian Palmer:

He was born in 1979 and currently divides his time between London and São Paulo.

Prior to photography, Sebastian studied French, History, Economics and went to the University of London to read both Management and Sociology. Deciding he wanted to take a more artistic route in life he left to study Graphic Design at Central St.Martins, London; where he discovered photography.

http://www.sebastianpalmer.com/

Photos of São Paulo's Cracolândia past and present

Crack user in 2005

There is an infamous area in the historical centre of São Paulo which has become known as Cracolândia, the name being derived from the fact that since the nineties crack has been openly bought, sold and consumed in open air public spaces of this centro region.

Despite efforts by the authorities to "clean up" Cracolândia and gentrify the area, there has been little notable change. Agencia Luz has some powerful black and white photographs from 1995 to present day which illustrate this.

I wanted to share some of them here as most people would not contemplate going anywhere near this part of town and although there are plenty of snapshots professional photographs are rare. [Some photos are edited to protect the identities of those pictured]

Cracolandia 1995

A consumer of crack in Cracolândia 2008

Police crackdown on Cracolândia 2005

Cracolândia 2009