SQEVNV (Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos)

« Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos »

« As long as we are alive we will meet again »

"Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos" is the last sentence Yair told me. We were on the rooftop of the block 11, the mist enveloped Caracas, the crazy lustle of the city sounded like a funeral lament.

The consciousness of his own end had something terrible and sublime at the same time. Everything was said. The emergency of life, the fascination for death, the downfall of the country. The extreme violence and the absurdity of the situation gave the impression that life was only a game.

I remembered two days earlier at the gallina (place for the fighting roosters). The smell of blood mixed with rum and sweat, the shouts of rage, the excitement of each man. An intangible trance intoxicated the arena. As if we were all crazy. As if blood, death and power made people more alive.

The chaotic energy of the city resonated in each fight like an unfolded, sustainable and helplessly crying dance.

My wanderings in Latin America were crossed by other striking encounters. Like these fighting roosters, I saw beings dancing and clinging to disorder.

Each time I found this same insolent sensuality, like a furious provocation, like the scream of a teenager amused by danger, condemned and free at the same time.

© Celine Croze - A man looking at dogs after coming out of a speakeasy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.
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A man looking at dogs after coming out of a speakeasy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.

© Celine Croze - Erupting volcano. Volcano of Pacaya. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015
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Erupting volcano. Volcano of Pacaya. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015

© Celine Croze - Drug dealer smoking crack in an apple to get more high. Sobradinho, Brazil, 2019
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Drug dealer smoking crack in an apple to get more high. Sobradinho, Brazil, 2019

© Celine Croze - Yair and his Friend playing with their Gun. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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Yair and his Friend playing with their Gun. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Volcanic lava, two days after the eruption of the Pacaya Volcano. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015
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Volcanic lava, two days after the eruption of the Pacaya Volcano. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015

© Celine Croze - Photo of a policeman who was killed. This photo is pinned as a trophy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015
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Photo of a policeman who was killed. This photo is pinned as a trophy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015

© Celine Croze - Men talking before enter to the speakeasy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.
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Men talking before enter to the speakeasy. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.

© Celine Croze - Portrait of Octavio, pimp and crack dealer. Tijuana Mexico. 2018
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Portrait of Octavio, pimp and crack dealer. Tijuana Mexico. 2018

© Celine Croze - Portrait of X. X is the propriety of Octavio. She just smoke crack and she's waiting gringo clients. Tijuana, Mexico, 2018
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Portrait of X. X is the propriety of Octavio. She just smoke crack and she's waiting gringo clients. Tijuana, Mexico, 2018

© Celine Croze - Image from the SQEVNV (Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos) photography project
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Mario rushes off on his motorbike to join his brother who is fighting with machete in the Rio in front of the villagers next door because he slept with the sister of them. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.

© Celine Croze - Church of a lost island in Mexico. Chacahua, Mexico, 2017
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Church of a lost island in Mexico. Chacahua, Mexico, 2017

© Celine Croze - Inside the speakeasy, Pablo just caught a prostitute. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.
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Inside the speakeasy, Pablo just caught a prostitute. Patrocinio, Guatemala, 2015.

© Celine Croze - Man counting the money he just won at the cockfight. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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Man counting the money he just won at the cockfight. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Jose sitting in his room after losing all three of his roosters in battle. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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Jose sitting in his room after losing all three of his roosters in battle. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - El Feo at home showing me his bullets after telling me that he survived 3 bullets in the belly. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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El Feo at home showing me his bullets after telling me that he survived 3 bullets in the belly. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Fighting cocks. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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Fighting cocks. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Image from the SQEVNV (Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos) photography project
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Portrait of el Feo. El feo is a survivor, he was shot three times in the belly by the gang from the block opposite. He tells me his story and stays hidden. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Thighs of Pretty eyes (prostitute and crystal meth addict) after being hit by his client. Tijuana, Mexico, 2018
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Thighs of Pretty eyes (prostitute and crystal meth addict) after being hit by his client. Tijuana, Mexico, 2018

© Celine Croze - Inside a room where Yair has been hiding. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015
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Inside a room where Yair has been hiding. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

© Celine Croze - Image from the SQEVNV (Siempre que estemos vivos nos veremos) photography project
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Portrait of Yair, the gang leader of the 11 block of Caracas. Yair no longer wanted to sell drugs. He was shot in his home three months later by special police forces with six bullets in the body in front of his wife and little girl. Caracas, Venezuela, 2015

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