Valerio Bispuri photographic exhibition
Produced by Festival Visa pour l'Image - Perpignan
Valerio Bispuri spent 10 years travelling in South America jails. A different and complex world in which violence and abuse are part of daily life. During this period, he observed how convicts try to find a space similar to that one they had outside jails. In this way, they try to preserve their dignity. Jails are the reflex of the society, a mirror of a country both for small problems and for the big economic and social crisis. The necessity to recreate their space is the only way to defend them selves. They hardly try to maintain their habits in a human boundary condition and overcrowding status. Violence and power management inside the jails are direct consequences of these conditions. The jails rules are the same of that we can find in ordinary life : who has money and power, supervises and has authority.
The aim of Bispuri's project (37 black-and-white photos are exhibited in Rome) is not to denounce the situation in jails but to discover and tell what joins and what separates the South America countries. He went around for 74 male and female jails in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia e Venezuela. He got in contact with prisoners and guards, with fear and anger, with hope and diffidence. Every jail was a way to tell the country from inside and outside. Even if everything seems to be just a reflex of violence, the contrast of life and violence belongs to one line. This corresponds to the history of South America.
Biography
Valerio Bispuri, 40 years old, was born in Rome. He is an art and letter graduate. He is living in Buenos Aires and in Rome. Professional photoreporter since 2001, he is collaborating with many Italian and foreign magazines. He made a lot of reportages in Latin America, Africa and Middle East. He exhibited in many places in Italy, Spain and Argentina. He is hardly working on different aspects of life in South America and in 2011 he received a special mention at the POYi Latin America.