feature: salvador photographer helder conceição celebrates aesthetic and cultural wealth of local neighborhood

Check out Brazilian-based photographer Helder Conceição’s latest series, ‘Bonanza’. Shot on location in Conceição’s Salvador neighborhood, the project aims to celebrate the aesthetic and cultural wealth of poor areas of the city, which are often minimized because its reputation for crime and poverty. “When I was a kid, I was embarrassed to tell people from other neighborhoods we lived here because it was a dangerous area and everyone was afraid of the people who came here,” Conceição says. To push back against the negativity and to highlight new found pride in the neighborhood that’s occurring thanks to changing attitudes and growing support for social change, the photographer created this series to celebrate the good and the special.

*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.