How the Industrialization of the Amazon Is Transforming Brazil

4 minute read

It’s dusk. A group of young boys scale a tree, jumping from branch to water along a riverine neighborhood in Brazil. Pulsing through the center of one of the world’s last remaining rainforests, Brazil’s waterways have sustained vitality for thousands of indigenous people for centuries. But since this photo was taken last year by Canadian photographer Aaron Vincent Elkaim, a third of the city has been displaced by the world’s third largest dam.

Elkaim’s photo series—a long-term documentary that chronicles the lives of people displaced from their homes by the Belo Monte Dam—was awarded the $20,000 Alexia Foundation professional grant.

Finalists of the grant in this category include Brendan Hoffman, Adriane Ohanesian, Asa Sjöström and Krisanne Johnson. Alvaro Ybarra Zavala won the judges special recognition for his work on Colombia, The Parallel State. In the student category, Nathaniel Brunt’s #Shaheed, a study of men and technology in the war in Kashmir, took first place.

Elkaim, who had self-funded the project, was on what may have been his last trip to Brazil when he learned of the prize. “The news came at perfect timing,” he tells TIME. “This story is constantly evolving, with so many layers and so much more to do and I kept thinking this can’t be the end.”

As a young kid, Elkaim recalls scouring through a tall stack of National Geographic magazines that his grandpa kept. “Going through those magazines, the Amazon captured my imagination,” Elkaim says. “I always knew one day I would go there.”

He went on to study cultural anthropology at the University of Manitoba and later pursued photojournalism, focusing his lens on the impact of development on cultures still connected to the natural world. He co-founded the Boreal Collective, a team of 12 internationally based photojournalists, through which he exhibited his Sleeping With the Devil project, which examines a Canadian community in the heart of a territory called “chemical valley.” But he never forgot the Amazon.

When he read about Bela Monte in a news article, he instantly knew this was what he had to do next.

His resulting images look at the people’s connection to the land: One image shows a Ribinerio family preparing fish to eat, in the river; Neto fans the flames while building a canoe on the reserve; Munduruku women bathe in a creek; A boy plays by the river in the Xingu Basin. Other images reveal the fallout of the dam: Families move their belongings out of their flooded homes; a child stands, knee-deep in water, in a flooded home; tribal members on a sandbar prepare for a protest against the dam.

With grant funding, Elkaim plans to return to Altamira to focus on the continued fallout. “This dam is built, it’s producing electricity, the damage is already done and it’s a catastrophe,” he says.

For Elkaim, The Alexia Foundation grant—created in remembrance of Alexia Tsairis, one of the 35 Syracuse University students murdered in the terrorist bombing of PanAm Flight 103—is humbling. “It’s not just about the sum of money,” he says. “It’s about the others that have come before me, and all of the amazing colleagues that I know also applied for this award and to know that I was recognized for it. That creates an obligation to do the best work I can.”

Aaron Elkaim is a Toronto based photographer. His work will be exhibited at the 2016 Look3 Festival.

Rachel Lowry is a writer and contributor for TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Belo Monte Dam Brazil
A group of boys climb a tree on the Xingu River by the city of Altamira, Brazil. One third of the city will be permanently flooded by the nearby Belo Monte Dam, March 2014. Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
A Ribinerio family from the traditional riparian village of Mangabal on the Tapajos River. The village is threatened by a proposed major hydroelectric complex that would flood their land forcing them to move to the nearby city of Itaituba, Dec. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
Munduruku men carry home the days hunt in the village of Sawre Muybu. The Munduruku are a tribe of around 12,000 people who have lived along the Tapajos River since before colonization, Dec. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
Neto fans the flames while building a canoe in the Riozinho do Anfrisio Extractavist Reserve. Extractavists have lived in the forests for generations descending from the rubber tappers that once worked in Brazils rubber industry. Today live along the river banks with an economy based on harvesting sustainable products such as latex, nuts, and oils. The Riozinho do Anfrisio is a tributary to the Xingu River. The impacts to this area from the Belo Monte dam are not yet fully understood, April 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
Munduruku women bathe and do laundry in a creek by the village of Sawre Muybu. The Munduruku are currently fighting against government plans to construct a number of hydroelectric dams on the Tapajos River in the Amazon rainforest that would flood much of their traditional lands in Para State, Brazil. Brazil is planning to build over 60 new Dams in the Amazon Rainforest. The dams are part of Brazil's Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC), which also includes a rapid expansion of mining in the gold rich region, Dec. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
A boy plays by the river on the Extractavist Reserve of Riozinho do Anfrísio in the Xingu Basin. Descendants of the Rubber Tapers who came to the forests during Brazils Rubber Boom, Extractavists see themselves as the protectors of the forest, fighting ranchers and loggers for the preservation of their land. Throughout the Amazon they are being threatened by development, April 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
Veia balances her child who she and her husband David, left, have yet to name in their home on the Extractavist Reserve of Riozinho do Anfrísio. Extractavists are the descendants of Rubber Tapers who came to the forests generations ago during Brazils Rubber Boom. They now live along the river banks with an economy based on harvesting sustainable natural products such as rubber, nuts, and oils, April 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
A Xikrin warrior is painted in the village of "Pot crô." The Xikrin are part of the Kayapo tribe that have strongly resisted the Belo Monte dam for decades, Feb. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
A Munduruku family watch Brazilian Soap Operas in the village of Sawre Muybu. Although living completely off the land their villages have generators, fridges and televisions. Many indigenous communities are provided with these goods by government and industry hoping to win their support for the proposed dams, Dec. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
A family moves their belonging out of their flooded home in Invasao dos Padres, a neighbourhood in Altamira that will be permanently flooded by the Belo Monte Dam, March 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
Belo Monte Dam
Members of the Munduruku indigenous tribe walk on a sandbar on the Tapajos River as they prepare for a protest against plans to construct a series of hydroelectric dams on the river in the Amazon rainforest in Para State, Brazil. The tribe members used the rocks to write 'Tapajos Livre' (Free Tapajos) in a large message in the sand in an action in coordination with Greenpeace. The Munduruku live traditionally along the river and depend on fishing and the river system for their livelihood. As their traditional lands are unrecognized by the government, they have little legal protection against development, but have vowed to fight against the dams, Nov. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim
The construction site of the Belo Monte Dam lights up the sky over the Xingu River, seen from the nearby city of Altamira. Belo Monte is the largest industrial operation in South America and will be the third largest dam in the world.
The construction site of the Belo Monte Dam lights up the sky over the Xingu River, seen from the nearby city of Altamira. Belo Monte is the largest industrial operation in South America and will be the third largest dam in the world, Feb. 2014.Aaron Vincent Elkaim

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