In sad tropics, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote that “here everything seems to be a construction, but it is already ruin” – the here of the statement refers to Brazil. Lévi-Strauss's appointment dates from 1955, but seven decades later Brazil remains here. We still don't know for sure whether in works or in ruins.
The photography of Leandro Rodrigues privileges this indeterminacy. Living in São Paulo, the photographer directs his gaze to the transitions between the erasure of urban memory and the rage of real estate speculation. The capital of São Paulo is a permanent laboratory of this tension, being today an immense construction site.
In Rodrigues' records, different temporality regimes overlap. The option for black and white reinforces the drama of the process, with the typical gray of the concrete spreading throughout the environment. The coexistence between what is demolished and what is built, however, does not occur harmoniously, as can be seen in elements such as shattered glass and partially demolished and surrounded by rubble.
The violence that the photographs evoke reminds us of war scenarios, referring to what is left behind by a population that had to leave its territory in a hurry. To some extent, the gentrification process also imposes a withdrawal on the former residents, excluded from the new narrative designed for that urban space. The historical character that black and white gives to Rodrigues' work contrasts with the promise of a vibrant future that these ventures try to sell to their investors.
When choosing to inhabit the volatile terrain of metamorphosis, the cutout highlighted by Rodrigues does not aim to appease the look, suggesting rather a dynamic of permanent exclusion. Part of the destabilization is elaborated, for example, in blurred images, in which the critical tone manifests a structuring doubt: how much ruin does every work contain in itself?
São Paulo received 7 thousand new condominiums in 10 years. In 2024 alone, 818 new projects were delivered, totaling around 150,000 apartments — almost double the 424 launches registered in 2023. For 2025, the forecast is for another 515 condominiums.
Source: Data Lello
Sobre o fotógrafo:
Leandro Rodrigues é fotógrafo, com atuação em publicidade e design. Formado em Fotografia, desde 2011 desenvolve projetos autorais que exploram a essência da fotografia na rua e suas possibilidades de abstração.
Sobre o autor:
Felipe Marcondes Vatavuk da Costa lê e escreve – nessa ordem. Tem formação em Dramaturgia pela SP Escola de Teatro e é doutor em Literatura Portuguesa pela FFLCH-USP. Sua produção transita entre literatura, performance e artes visuais, com desdobramentos em crítica, criação, curadoria e docência.
