Jennifer Vela
Miguel Rio Branco, “La bodeguita del medio”
1994
This image had me in awe. Two elements in which Miguel Rio Branco works with is color and light. The subject is clearly the woman in the pink dress but Branco does a great job in angling the camera to light the graffitied wall. There is an overwhelming feeling as you see so many names and words that your eyes skim through the whole right side of the image. Though that doesn’t take away from the subject. It helps in telling a story behind the woman. A bittersweet story. The woman seems out of place in the photo. The light highlighting the pink, shadowing the green. It makes you think about not only her placement in this setting but what Branco is trying to say in her placement in Brazil. His idea for this collection was to depict the hardships of Brazil but instead of judging giving it dignity. Though in a setting of poverty, violence and death you can still find humility, richness and life through the lens of color, light and photography.
