Imaging Brazil 300: Dog Lying in the Grass in Belo Horizonte, MG (2010)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

300: Lying in the grass

Brazil is a very beautiful country, many will agree with me. The downside of this beautiful medal is that many Brazilians do not care about the environment. This group leaves its litter negligently on any unused piece of land. For example, green areas and berms are littered with a wide range of waste: plastic, cardboard, metal, glass, pepper, old furniture, old white goods, paint cans, tires, batteries, and much more. The urban waste collectors have much work to clean up this mess, with a limited budget. Nowadays, small projects are being launched to make Brazilians environmentally friendly and to keep their environment clean. The dog in the picture is lying lazily in the grass, which is littered with waste. The grass has almost completely overgrown this waste.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2010, 2017

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Imaging Brazil 192: Excavator in Belo Horizonte, MG (2008)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

192. Excavator 

OCTOBER 2008: Excavator

Lake Pampulha, one of the most visited tourist sites in Belo Horizonte, is an artificial lake. The lake is not only of architectural value (works by Oscar Niemeyer), but also has a valuable variety of natural beauty. Tourist can not only see the local environment by a visit of the ecological park, but also by walks or bike rides along the seventeen-kilometer margin. Unfortunately, the scenery is in almost constant danger. A number of streams and sewage pipes flow into the lake, which result in the progressive destruction of the local flora and fauna. Aquatic plants grow lush, and must be removed regularly. Contaminated sludge and sediment waste is regularly removed with large excavators. At the time of the photo the sun had almost disappeared on the horizon. There was almost no wind; therefore, the water surface shows an quite sharp mirror image of one of the excavators.

 

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2008, 2016

Imaging Brazil 186: Fishing in Shallow Waters in Belo Horizonte, MG (2008)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

186. Fishing 

FEBRUARY 2008: Fishing

For many years, attempts have been made to clean Pampulha Lake, and have it made suitable for  water recreation activities. The popular artificial lake, created in the forties of the last century, is one of the principal tourist attractions in Belo Horizonte. The city dreams to introduce water recreation activities on Pampulha Lake as additional tourist attractions. Unfortunately, there still is sewage leaking into the lake, with disastrous effects on the aquatic environment. Aquatic plants thrive in polluted water and their excessive growth threatens to suffocate aquatic life underneath. It is forbidden to swim or fish because of the health risks. Not everyone respects the rules, like this fisherman standing in the lake.

 

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2008, 2016

Imaging Brazil 035: Waste Separation in Belo Horizonte, MG (2005)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

035. Waste separation 

AUGUST 2005: Waste separation

Talking about colors… The Natural History Museum of the UFMG in Belo Horizonte hosted these six waste bins. Colorful waste bins for plastic, metal, glass, paper, organic waste, and rest waste, consequently. Usually, all household waste is collected unseparated in little plastic bags, which are obtained at the supermarkets and hypermarkets. At dawn, long before the municipal waste collectors will pick them up, private waste collectors stroll along the roads for useful and recyclable materials which may provide them some money. In this way paper waste, tin cans and PET bottles are separated very efficiently.

 

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2005, 2014

Imaging Brazil 032: Waterworks in Belo Horizonte, MG (2005)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

032. Waterworks 

JULY 2005: Waterworks

At present, slave labor should not exist anymore, but there is still a lot of unwanted work. Fortunately, this kind of work is being paid, even when these public employees – as shown in the picture – don’t receive a lot of money. They are working on Lagoa (Lake) da Pampulha), where they are trying to remove water plants. These plants were covering a large surface of the lake, and made it impossible for creatures to survive the lack of oxygen and nutrients. The city had to start large-scale cleaning operations. Wreckers and bulldozers were implemented to have the plants removed. At less accessible locations, workers had to use flat-bottom boats. The men had to drag the heavy plants out of the water…

 

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2005, 2014