The Tensions at the Amazon's fringe

Portrait of the Rosa Veras, in the marshlands of Santa Rita – Brazil. Artisanal fishing has been a way of life for generations, and Rosa has spent her entire life fishing in the waters that surround her home. However, the recent construction of a power line through the marshlands has had a devastating impact on Rosa’s life. The high electric charges of the power line have disturbed the local aquatic ecosystem, leading to a significant decrease in the number of fish in the area. As a result, Rosa is no longer able to catch enough fish to feed her family. Rosa’s situation is not unique. Many artisanal fisherwomen in Santa Rita are facing similar challenges as a result of the power line construction. The impact of the power line construction goes beyond just the loss of income for these women. Artisanal fishing is a crucial part of the cultural heritage of the marshlands, and the decline of the industry threatens the very identity of the community. Furthermore, the environmental damage caused by the power line construction has long-term implications for the ecosystem and the future of the local younger generations.

This is a portrait of Antonio Lima, the eldest cowboy of the Santa Rita city marshlands area. The region has a long lineage of cowboys who have been breeding cattle for generations. However, Lima is concerned about his family’s future in the area due to the construction of a powerline in the local waters. His daily routine of riding out to look for his cattle in the surroundings of his ranch has become increasingly challenging due to the infrastructure project. The magnetic field and loud buzzing noises generated by the high voltage in the cables scare the cattle away. Due to the flooded nature of the area, some of his animals have been killed by electrocution when approaching the transmission towers built in the swamps. Lima’s son is facing the same issues on his nearby ranch. The power infrastructure has disrupted their family’s livelihood, which heavily relies on income from cattle breeding. “The consequences of the construction are devastating for us,” says Lima. “Our cattle are our lifeblood, and we cannot afford to lose any more of them. Este é um retrato de Antônio Lima, o vaqueiro mais velho da região pantaneira da cidade de Santa Rita. A região tem uma longa linhagem de vaqueiros que criam gado há gerações. No entanto, Lima está preocupado com o futuro de sua família na área devido à construção de uma linha de transmissão de energia nas águas locais. Sua rotina diária de sair para procurar o gado nos arredores de seu rancho tornou-se cada vez mais desafiadora devido ao projeto de infraestrutura. O campo magnético e os zumbidos altos gerados pela alta tensão nos cabos afugentam o gado. Devido à natureza alagada da área, alguns de seus animais foram mortos por eletrocussão ao se aproximarem das torres de transmissão construídas nos pântanos. O filho de Lima está enfrentando os mesmos problemas em sua fazenda próxima. A infraestrutura de energia interrompeu o sustento de sua família, que depende muito da renda proveniente da c

Portrait of Fernanda Fernandes in the marshlands that surrounds her family’s ranch at Santa Rita – Brazil. Her childhood memories of playing in the waters of the marshlands of Santa Rita are no longer a reality. The construction of a powerline through the waters has had a devastating impact on the local ecosystem. The high electric charges have created a magnetic field that has expelled all the little aquatic animals she used to catch for fun, but also can put the children lives at risk. The local government has promised a solution, but so far, it has not materialized. Fernandes and the community are left struggling to deal with the consequences of the powerline construction. They want the government and private companies responsible for the construction to take responsibility for the damage they have caused and find a sustainable solution that protects both the environment and the community’s well-being.

Portrait of Antonio Serejo trying to catch some fish in the tranquil waters of Santa Rita city’s marshlands. For generations, the local swamps have been a lifeline for local communities, including Serejo’s family. However, the construction of power lines in the area has brought significant changes to their way of life. In 2019, the company responsible for the power line construction neglected important environmental protection protocols in a rush to complete the project. This led to contamination of the waters during the fish reproduction season. In association with the impacts of the high electric charges transmitted through the cables, it resulted in an alarming 80% reduction in the fish population in the following years. As a result, Serejo was forced to abandon his traditional livelihood as a fisherman and turn to aviary breeding to compensate for the economic loss caused by the power lines. Like many others in the area, Serejo has had to adapt to the changing circumstances while waiting for a response from the local government regarding the environmental issue.

Portrait of Praw Akroá-Gamella in the woods that surround the main entrance of the Akroá-Gamella village’s main entrance. When she was a little girl, Praw witnessed one of the most violent attacks on an indigenous group in Brazilian history. Dozens of gunmen attacked her village in the marshlands of the city of Viana, resulting in several members of her community being shot or having their hands and feet mutilated. The Akroá-Gamella were declared extinct decades ago, but remaining members are now fighting to reclaim their original lands. However, their efforts are met with hostility and the community is in constant danger of attack. For living nearby the village’s main entrance, Praw, now a teenager, remains in the woods, watching over everyone who enters their territory. She feels in charge of guard her people.

Portrait of Rokrã Akroá-Gamella holding his bow and arrows in the marshlands where a powerline was built without his community’s authorization. For centuries, the Akroá-Gamella indigenous people have faced violence and land exploitation that led many to believe they were extinct. However, in the recent years, Rokrã and others formed an association to assert their existence and reclaim their ancestral territories. The occupation of Akroá-Gamella’s ancestral lands has interrupted the city’s infrastructure projects, leading to conflicts with the local authorities. After a series of attacks by hired gunmen, in 2021, they faced a new challenge when a powerline construction project was set to cross their territory, without their approval. When the first towers were built, Rokrã took up his bow to resist further construction, leading to a violent action by the local police. Despite Rokrã’s illegal arrest, he says, “I am a protector of my people, and I will use my arrows to attack anyone who threatens the local environment and our way of life.”.

Portrait of the shaman Maria Roxa inside the praying house of the Akroá-Gamella village, surrounded by syncretized religious statues. In 2017, gunmen hired by buffalo ranchers who illegally occupied the indigenous ancestor lands attacked the village. Many were shot during the attack, but miraculously, no one died. According to the shaman, their lives were spared thanks to the protection of the ancestors’ guardian spirits who live in the local woods and waters. “Our ancestors were victims of the ranchers. They faced violence, and many died fighting for their lives in these woods. As we reconstruct what has been taken from them, we have their protection and blessings,” says Roxa.

Located in the transition zone between the legal Amazon and the Brazilian backlands, the marshlands of Maranhão state are known as “the Amazon forest’s fringe”. This land has been ignored for centuries due to its unsual Amazon landscape, but has suffered a huge social and environmental impact in recent years due to the expansion of the local economic development.

The first impacts started in the 1960s with the implementation of the buffalo farming industry. Over the decades, indigenous and quilombolas have lost their territories due to illegal land grabbing, which has created violent conflicts. In 2017, the Akroá-Gamella, an almost extinct local indigenous group, was violently attacked. They were demanding their original territory near the city of Viana, but the Gamellas are seen as a threat by buffalo ranchers and the urban population living in their territory.

In 2019, the construction of an energy transmission line contaminated the marshlands and killed up to 80% of its fish, the main source of food and income for the local communities. This issue caused huge economic and cultural impacts, collapsing the centennial way of life of the marshlands’ traditional groups.

This project proposes a visual documentation of the stress caused by Amazon’s economic development and presents, through the local characters’ portraits, the impacts at this underreported area.