Rocinha last supper
by Michel Heitzmann
Rocinha, favela of Rio de Janeiro. Perched in a valley linking Leblon and Gávea beaches, a town on itself with tens of thousands, policed by the narcos.
You can’t walk in on your own. You are scanned at the entrance, in the middle and at the end. Your guide advises cameras away. On one occasion: dealer with loud rap, gun on the table, two dozen plastic bags with a white substance that was not flour. On another: two men seated above road level, huge mirrors, watching that no threat from the city comes up. Tropa de Elite, real.
And yet a large community living in peace. Less crime than Rio itself.
With tight alleys and internet.
On Estrada da Gávea — the main artery zig-zagging the favela — the last supper of the Paróquia Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem.
Blue-eyed Black Jesus at the center. Twelve disciples of different ethnicities. Football under the table. Skateboard. Takeaway pizza. Crumbling plaster around them.
Perhaps those who come here as tourists and think themselves lucky aren’t so fortunate after all.
Some days before the armed intervention in Alemão and Penha that made worldwide news.
Photos on 17 October 25 with a Canon R6M2, RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM and an iPhone 16 Pro Max.