In one of Colombia’s most dangerous and violent zones in the central northwestern Antioquia department, known as “Comuna 13” in the city of Medellin, the photography campaign “Live” promotes peace and respect for life.
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The project headed by art director Felipe Mesa and funded by the Pazamanos Foundation displays huge photographs of various Colombian countrysides, plastered on walls throughout Commune 13, an area notorious for its gang violence and conflict.
Each photograph is accompanied by a motivational or optimistic phrase such as “live with joy,” scrolled along the bottom. The photographs will then be exemplified through youth workshops that will “promote respect for life in the midst of so much conflict,” Mesa said.
The photographs have been up for a month and “will be there indefinitely,” said Mesa as he discussed the project in an interview with Colombia Reports.
Mesa explained that the project was not planned but rather came to them saying, “With so much escalating violence, we decided to do a campaign of impact and it was then that ‘Campaign Live’ emerged and the photos were put up in each neighborhood of Commune 13, where any person that entered and left the neighborhood had to see. They are photos of the Colombian countryside, of different inspirational regions of Colombia, and each photograph carries a different message. The photos say ‘live with passion,’ ‘live with joy,’ ‘live with creativity,’ ‘live with hope.’ Right now there are only four installed, multiple photos are still missing. I believe that in total there will be six or seven, this hasn’t been completely decided.”
The photos have allegedly been received positively within the community so far. “People never expected to see photographs so large on walls of pure brick and cement, and its these photos that give them so much color and happiness in this space. So far they [the photos] have been respected and will have better reception once we divulge more about the campaign,” Mesa assured.
According to Mesa, the project’s goal is for people, specifically in the extremely violent Commune 13, to view life differently. “There, life expectancy of a youth is not much. There are many armed gangs, so it’s like reminding them to respect the life that is so easily disposed of. That is why the campaign is called ‘Live,’ so that they respect life a little bit more. For example there are cases in which you can’t pass one neighborhood to the next, if a youth from one crosses into the other, they kill him. The truth is that they don’t value themselves. The motive with these photographs is so anybody would think that they are not from Colombia, it makes them realize that they can leave this neighborhood, that they don’t remain confined there if that is not their expectation and they can see beyond.”
Campaign Life is part of a larger project in Commune 13 called “The Corner of Colors.” However, the entire project has not been finished since “the places we want to reach are currently very dangerous,” Mesa explained, “we have not been able to finish due to the violence.”