Between the pest and the beasts by Anthony Ascer Aparicio
And now who are we? Where are we? Where do we go? If the last trace of innocence disappeared as life was transformed into survival. While fear intoxicated our human condition and duel consumed our calendars.
A special police unit enters a slum during a security operation in Caracas. In its attempts to curb organized crime the government has ordered the militarization of citizen security through a series of surprise operations against gangs.
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And now who are we? Where are we? Where do we go? If the last trace of innocence disappeared as life was transformed into survival. While fear intoxicated our human condition and duel consumed our calendars.
Fury flows through our blood. The same blood that does not stop spilling, forcing us to dig our most primitive instincts. There is no option, only necessity. More than a right, living has become a feat. Now we are all both, hunters and preys. Sick of hate. Waiting for the next blow. Waiting for the next travelling bullet like a shooting star, and watching it pass, begging for a single wish; not to be the next to fall down.We are between heaven and earth. Where the beasts kill each other. Where the pest infects us. Where justice ignores, impotence strangles, revenge is oxygen and remorse scarces. We go walking in circles stumbling over un-memorized obstacles. Running after a peace that we never knew. Assuming our existence, regardless of others. Surrounded by witnesses and accomplices. In the middle of chaos; we are, exist, and go “Between the pest and the beasts”.
My project is titled “Between The Pest and The Beasts”. It’s an essay in which I try to address a phenomenon that has been an inspiration for many Venezuelan colleagues, and that is still a reason for work and research over the years.
And it is that nobody is safe when you live in the city that over the last years occupies the first place in the violence index. We have all been victims or victimizers, either voluntarily or by splashing. And it is precisely that personal vision that has motivated me to document this conflict.
From the members of the special forces without morals or ethics, devastating the slums population, criminalizing his social status without differentiating guilty from innocent. From the police officer who exerts all his strength on a young man who manifests himself in the middle of a protest violating his human rights. To the criminal gangs at the top of the slums, recruiting more and more young people and force them to grow with a gun in their hands to control the territory, the sale of drugs, robberies and kidnappings. Passing by the most affected, ordinary citizens, who are in the middle of this silent war, being witnesses and the worst case scenario, accomplices.
Based on this reality, I adopted this metaphor as a starting point. Incarnating in the role of “The beasts” the opposing sides, the law and those who are in the margin of it, killing each other. “The Pest” as that hatred, impotence, mourning and thirst for revenge that sickens the direct mourners. And in the middle of everything, the conscious and reasonable human being, who is part of this reality, is not exempt from contamination by this social bacteria called violence.
About Anthony AsCer Aparicio
My name is Anthony AsCer Aparicio, I’m a 25 years old Venezuelan photographer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the last two years, I’ve worked as an independent photojournalist for local media in Venezuela, I’ve also collaborated with the international press and NGO. In the year 2017 I took the 4th place of the POY LATAM in the category News (individual), and this year 2018 I got the 3rd place of the Lens Culture Exposure Award in the category (individual), I’ve also been published in the book “The Best of Lens Culture Vol.2”. [Official Website]
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Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.