Shantytown, bidonville, jhuggi, and favela are some of the various names given to the slums that overtake the large urban centers of the developing world. In Argentina, each of these densely populated areas is called villa miseria or “village of misery.” The name seems fitting for a place where the housing is makeshift and poorly constructed, roads are not paved, electricity is a luxury few enjoy, and packs of stray dogs seek refuge.
In 2008, Emily Anne Epstein, BC ’07, moved to Buenos Aires and began a four-month-long photography project, alongside the non-governmental organization Goals for Girls, in Buenos Aires slum Villa 31. Epstein was recently offered the opportunity to exhibit this work in the American Embassy in Argentina, where her photos will expose a sizeable audience to both the suffering and the potential for change in the villas. The exhibition, the starting date for which is still uncertain, will focus a much needed spotlight on the organization and its participants.
“The villa was fascinating because everyone ignored it like it didn’t exist,” Epstein said. Paired with Goals for Girls, which primarily seeks to help disadvantaged girls through the game of soccer, she was able to enter a world completely removed from the luxury of downtown Buenos Aires.
Epstein started the project ignorant of the actual conditions and dangers, and had to meet one of the coaches at seven o’clock every morning to be escorted into the villa. “You always need a member of the community to go in,” she said. Despite her daily presence, residents remained skeptical.
It was common for local boys to harass team members both on and off the field, for families to punish the girls by keeping them from practice, and for unavoidable cultural differences—residents are generally immigrants from varying South American countries—to create conflict. Yet, after some time, through broken Spanish and the use of gestures, Epstein was able to build a relationship with the team.
“They eventually opened up and I got to see this world that is marginalized without reason,” Epstein said. “Women face hardships that are supposedly in ancient history, but how do you teach girls that being on a team and working towards something without immediate gratification is going to actually help them in the end?” Despite the risks, this story was a story that needed to be told, not only to an international audience, but also to the people of Buenos Aires, the people who drive past the villas everyday on their way to work.
Epstein now works for the New York Times as a critical photojournalism writer, and her current project centers on another group of marginalized women. The series focuses on burlesque dancers in New York City and reevaluates the identity of the subculture. “Even though they’re demoralized by taking off their clothes and performing lewd acts, they’re also mocking concepts of femininity. It’s very political,” she said. Epstein’s feminist perspective was cemented by the time spent in Villa 31, which has helped her define her role as a photographer.
The time spent on the Goals for Girls series exposed Epstein to new conceptions of photography. “I used to look at photographs and I’d look at the composition, and I’d look at the lighting and at how the photographer interpreted the situation,” she said. “Now I look at photographs and I think, what temperature was it? How long did they have to wait to get that photograph? How many people did they have to talk to?” Not only did Epstein gain a greater understanding of photography, but also her own identity as a photographer.
“You can’t go into a story knowing how it’s going to turn out,” she said, “photographers are interpreters.”
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