ECHANDO
PA’LANTE
Even before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, over 60% of the population of Barranquilla worked in the informal sector, and many more lost their jobs during the crisis.
During Colombia's nationwide strict curfew in early 2020, the streets of Barranquilla were barely recognizable, empty and silent. Those who could afford it left their homes only for essential purchases. To make ends meet, many people resorted to selling goods and services walking from door to door, doing so despite the curfew, risking heavy fines, exposed to possible infections with Covid, without health insurance or any government aid to fall back on and under a scorching hot sun.
Street vendors have always roamed the streets of Barranquilla. They sell fruits and vegetables, plastic bags and cell phone cases, some repair furniture, and work as gardeners or repair shoes.
From February to July 2020 the photographer and artist Raisa Galofre and I were staying at her families home. In that time each of us only left the house five times taking a cab to the supermarket and back.
The street vendors were often our only real contact with the outside world. So apart from documenting our daily life in lockdown we decided to work on the project "Echando Pa'lante" to document and give visibility to the many people risking so much to make ends meet.
The portraits are testimonies to their hardship during the pandemic, which is symptomatic of many problems that go far beyond the then corona crisis in the country. At the same time they are also testimonies to the strength and resourcefulness with which the vendedores face the difficulties that had been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The series comments on the sometimes bizarre and often times frustrating experience and is part of a group of works documenting this global phenomenon („Temporarily Closed“, „Pu, Drop, Repeat“, „Echando Pa’lante“ and „Toque de Queda“).
The street vendors were often our only real contact with the outside world. So apart from documenting our daily life in lockdown we decided to work on the project "Echando Pa'lante" to document and give visibility to the many people risking so much to make ends meet.
The portraits are testimonies to their hardship during the pandemic, which is symptomatic of many problems that go far beyond the then corona crisis in the country. At the same time they are also testimonies to the strength and resourcefulness with which the vendedores face the difficulties that had been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The series comments on the sometimes bizarre and often times frustrating experience and is part of a group of works documenting this global phenomenon („Temporarily Closed“, „Pu, Drop, Repeat“, „Echando Pa’lante“ and „Toque de Queda“).
© Marvin Systermans — Berlin