Street people

Street people / Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on September 28, 2014

In the two photos that I compare here I am not intending to insinuate
that it's the same in Buenos Aires as in Havana, because there will
always be people sleeping on the street.

The Havanan (or maybe he is from another province) who sleeps shirtless
in the full sun on the centrally-located Avenue of the Presidents at the
corner of 23rd, in the heart of El Vedado, has left his shoes in reach
of anyone who might steal them, figuring, perhaps, that there's no one
more poor than he. The pants he is wearing are tied with something that
clearly isn't a belt, and one could wager that he has ingested a goodly
dose of alcohol. In the background, a reminder of the World Cup, the
Argentine flag flies accompanied by one from Germany and another from
Brazil.

The Argentine (probably an immigrant) protects himself from a slight
chill with perhaps too many clothes and has something like a briefcase
for a pillow. His image could illustrate the drama of many unemployed,
people who have seen their lives shattered with the latest crisis.
Behind him are more or less luxurious cars, contrasting with his misery.
On the walls are the libertarian slogans of some graffiti artists that
nobody has bothered to paint over. The street looks clean and everyone
who passes by ignores him.

If they are sleeping they are dreaming of different, but equally
unattainable, things.

28 September 2014

Source: Street people / Reinaldo Escobar | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/street-people-reinaldo-escobar/