PCC

With a documentary approach grounded in patience, proximity, and audacity, the work is deeply human, drawing out the tension, fear, and endurance that persist long after the immediate violence caused by the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital in Portuguese). They first drew widespread attention in 2006, the year this photo series was made, when they launched a series of violent attacks across São Paulo, targeting police stations, public buses, and government buildings. This photo series is a document of the actions of a group that was founded in 1993 inside a prison in São Paulo, and which began as a prisoners' rights movement but quickly evolved into a nationwide criminal organization. These actions shocked the country and revealed the deep control the PCC had over prisons and urban areas alike.