In a Window of Prestes Maia 911 Building

Winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award

In March 2006 the residents of 911 Prestes Maia, a twenty-two story ramshackle tower block in the center of sprawling Sao Paulo, Brazil, learned that they were to be evicted. The building, neglected by its landlord, had been empty for over a decade. In 2003 the “Movement of the Homeless” had moved in hundreds of families. The new residents created homes and a thriving community from squalor and neglect, complete with a library, workshops, and other educational activities. In this collection Julio Bittencourt records the tower’s residents as they appear in weathered window frames. It is powerful and thought provoking.

Julio Bittencourt was born in Brazil, grew up in São Paulo and spent his adolescence in New York. He began his career at the photo department of Valor Econômico, the major financial publication in Brazil where he worked as a staff photographer and as assistant-editor. He also worked as a photographer for Soico Group in Mozambique. Ronaldo Entler is a professor at the Institute of Arts, UNICAMP, Sáo Paulo.