Inside the Favelas: Rio de Janeiro

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"Inside the Favelas: Rio de Janeiro, the first book by Douglas Mayhew, that takes readers to places most Brazilians themselves have never visited, never mind the rest of the world. Given special dispensation to photograph the notorious shantytowns called favelas, ruled by drug lords Mayhew has created a visual story to explain these environments through photos and essays."

"Travel photographer Douglas Mayhew first encountered the strong influence of favelas (Brazilian shanty towns) while volunteering at a hospital in Rio. He began visiting and taking photos of the favelas, which he has now included in an investigative book about life in these controversial and oftentimes dangerous shantytowns."
 
 
"Author and photographer Douglas Mayhew has spent a lot of time investigating some of Brazil’s most impoverished areas, known as the favelas. After visiting seventy of these communities and taking around 18,000 images, he documented his findings in a book Inside the Favelas: Rio de Janeiro. Meet the man behind this extraordinary project."
 
"One sunny afternoon in 2008, American Douglas Mayhew and Brazilian Marcelo Castro ventured into Morro dos Prazeres, a favela in the downtown Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Santa Teresa. Morro dos Prazeres was occupied by narco-traffickers, as it wouldn’t receive a Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) until 2011. At the favela’s entrance, armed men intimidated those who tried to enter the neighborhood, yet they let Mayhew and Castro pass. Mayhew and Castro started walking briskly; then Mayhew grabbed his camera and started taking pictures."
 
"O fotógrafo americano Douglas Mayhew lança livro sensível sobre a realidade das favelas cariocas."
 
"The world is a ghetto. We of the first world forget this but it is everywhere, more common than not, people living below the poverty line in conditions too raw for us to fully comprehend. When we do consider it, we vilify or romanticize; we imagine it not as it is, for rarely do we venture into the world of the underclass. Yet artists venture forth, exploring lands unexamined and unexplored, discovering stories waiting to be told. Douglas Mayhewdoes just this in his first monograph, Inside the Favelas: Rio de Janeiro (Glitterati Incorporated)."
 
"A new photo-heavy book, Inside the Favelas, explores with great depth the shantytown neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro. Photographer and author Douglas Mayhew digs deep into the economies and societies of these slums, documenting a much more interesting version of the city than is usually seen in beach-and-bikini postcards."
 
"Rio de Janeirois known for its sexy beaches and festive atmosphere. But it’s also a place where life can be difficult for some residents — especially in the legendary shantytowns, usually called favelas. In his book, Inside the Favelas, author/photographer Douglas Mayhew takes readers to places that most travelers and Brazilians themselves have never visited, except perhaps as part of an organized “favela tour.” In this exclusive interview, Mayhew talks with LatinFlyer.com about these settlements — and whether tourism really makes any difference."
 
"Six weeks ago, in mid-September, in the favela community known informally as Jacarezinho, the narcotics and arms industry was in full-swing along the Rua Comandante de Sá, one of the pedestrian-only streets that run perpendicular to the community’s main commercial thoroughfare."
 
"No Brasil a Editora Casa da Palavra, levada por Ricardo Amaral, está entusiasmada com a ideia de uma edição em português do livro. Esta edição em língua inglesa foi responsabilidade exclusiva do próprio autor que, com isso, realizou um sonho de homem apaixonado pelo Rio de Janeiro que é, e também foi mais um gesto cultural de pessoa com alma de antropólogo e vínculos estreitos com a arte..."