These large portraits of 3 meters by 2 meters were hung here near a sports ground, there in a small square, there again on the walls of San Blas, between the houses built in an anarchic way on top of each other of this sub-district of Petaré, often referred to as the largest slum in South America.
The operation was organized by the Inside Out foundation of the French artist JR.
Photos placed on the ground of a sports field in the San Blas sub-district on April 12, 2022 Federico PARRA AFP
"The idea is to bring out the good of the neighborhood outside, all over the world: inside out (inside, outside)", underlines the photographer Juan Calero, director of the project, who signed part of the pictures.
He also called on Venezuelan photographers, and some from the neighborhood.
“You only hear bad things from Petaré. (The project) gives a positive image of the neighborhood through art and photography,” he adds.
"They are all people from the community. I cried with emotion, I had never seen such an immense image of me", confides Eilyn Gutierrez, 40, "stylist, cook and activist", posing in front of his image plastered on a sentry box.
A young man from San Blas holds up one of the photos from the Inside Out project in Petaré on April 12, 2022. Federico PARRA AFP
"The project is great for showing that in this community like in many others, there is talent to be tapped, art to be released, and a lot of potential," she says.
"The neighborhood, she concludes, is not just bad. There are good things, you just have to give us the opportunity to get to know each other".
© 2022 AFP