Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. The guys smoke a joint in their favorite place in the Isla, a former dump site in the old harbor area where they often gather to isolate, spend time in solitude, talk. The place is highly contaminated by the quaint Riachuelo flowing a few inches from them. They don't care about the risk they run for their health. They love dangers and always live to the limit risking a lot. Life does not have a very high price for so many kids who live in these conditions and it is constantly threatened. All of them at least once in life thought of committing suicide. Riachuelo is one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. Its dirty waters delimit borders and people who have their houses in its proximity live in alarming conditions.

Buenos Aires. View of one of the many parts of Riachuelo that enter inside the suburb. People use to throw their trashes along the river creating an open air dump. Families who live in these places are in danger for their health due to the contamination of the water and the land.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. F. and K. in a cold early winter morning in her room.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K. and F. warm up by smoking on a cold morning after a night spent on the street.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. F., U., K. and her sister walk along the Pinzon the main street of the Isla Maciel. Once it was a railway track who divided the original part of Isla Maciel from the new part, Dock Sur. It was the theather of many fights between the people who who lived here. Now it is the poorest and the most dangeous part of the suburb.The first part of the street is controlled by the Paraguayan, the rest by the Argentinian. Drug deales are positioned on every corner.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K. (16) lays on a sofa of her mother's house after a night spent consuming drugs and alcohool in the street. She has 3 younger sisters (13, 7 and 3 years old).
Her father spent his days stealing and consuming paco, he was very violent. He beats her from the cradle. Her mother every time tried to defend her she was systematically beat, also with a stick, reason why she has big back problems. In 2016 her father was killed by the police. He escaped from the theft of a car, had surrendered, his arms raised, and they shot him the same in the street.
Since that moment K. lives on the street.
Her mother was abused up to the age of 18, reason why she seems completely stunned and she cannot provide for her family. Her mother has also a big problem of swelling and belly pain. A suspected cancer. Recently she lost weight because of the high consume of Paco and she started to prostitutes herself. With the help of some social assistants and doctors she starting to think to rehab in recovery center.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. A. cries abandoned in the arms of her boyfriend K. because of family's daly problems. The only way to escape their daily horrible condition is love. Their relationship gives them strenght and confort from the lack of affects from the families and support from society. A. (14) lives with her mother, her sister (8) and her brother (7). Nobody knows anything about the father, the mother has been prostituting since many years.
In 2016 there was a fire in her home. Her mother was working and she had the responsibility of the little brothers. It was a cold winter night, she went out with her friends leaving a candle lit by the bed of her little brother. The blankets took fire and he was saved thanks to F.’s intervention that pulled him out of the ames. Even today, F. remembers the feeling of his skin attacking on him.
Her brother is burned on 85% of the body. An arm is deformed.
A. passes from periods of addiction to periods clean. She prostitutes with the consent of her mother and her aunt to bring money home because she feels guilty of the fire.
K. (18) lives between his father’s house, his mother’s and the A.'s.
His brother (16) has a mental retardation and has never been to school. His sister (7) has problems in talking. His dad is very violent, he is s drug addict and he has abused him.
He frequently crippled his arms. Hip Hop is the only way out he has to escape the violence he daily lives.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K.'s mother with the youngest daughter in her arms inside her house. On the left her third daughter and F. who is looking at her. On the background K. and A. are kissing. K.'s father spent his days stealing and consuming paco, he was very violent. He beats her from the cradle. Her mother every time tried to defend her she was systematically beat, also with a stick, reason why she has big back problems. In 2016 her father was killed by the police. He escaped from the theft of a car, had surrendered, his arms raised, and they shot him the same in the street.
Since that moment K. lives on the street.
Her mother was abused up to the age of 18, reason why she seems completely stunned and she cannot provide for her family.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. Kids playing in the street. One girl jumps from one of the many burned stolen cars abandoned along the street. Behind her on a wall it is written "Poverty or??? mhmm".

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. M. (21) drinks a beer in the morning, F. and K. are speaking in the back in the day that K. for the first time admit she needs to rehab herself in a community. M. has several problems of addictions and she has syphilis. She prostitutes herself and has 3 children who recently the judge took of from her: one has syphilis too and the youngest (18 months) was found with signs of sexual violence on her vagina. The violent and addicted brother of M. seems to be responsible for what's happened.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. G. is 19 years old. His mother has 8 children from different relations. He lives with his stepfather. They were cartoneros, now they are lost, consuming and selling drugs.
G. also sells drugs and carries weapons.
He lives on the street together with one of his brothers, J.(6), who is severely underfed (he has a 3 year old’s weight). He is an alcoholic.
Among all the guys, he is the most dangerous because he has already reached another level, that one belonging to the drug dealers and he is capable of killing if necessary.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. F. is celebrating with the other guys in one of the many alleys of the barrio the steal of a big size leather jacket from a store.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. A. and K. sitted under the highway that crosses the port of Buenos Aires where they often spend time and sometimes sleep.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. The guys inside the F. stepfather's home. Here, they usually gather when the stepfather works all night long as a security guard in order to shelter themselves for the night time. They spend time rapping, drinking, consuming drugs and supporting themselves staying together in a group.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. F. and K. on a bed after a night spent consuming drugs and alcoohol in the street.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K. lays on a sofa completely drugged. She has 3 younger sisters (13, 7 and 3 years old). Her father spent his days stealing and consuming paco, he was very violent. He beats her from the cradle. Her mother every time tried to defend her she was systematically beat, also with a stick, reason why she has big back problems. In 2016 her father was killed by the police. He escaped from the theft of a car, had surrendered, his arms raised, and they shot him the same in the street. Since that moment K. lives on the street. Her mother was abused up to the age of 18, reason why she seems completely stunned and she cannot provide for her family. Her mother has also a big problem of swelling and belly pain. A suspected cancer.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K. and F. during a physical fight. It's very common that, among them, moments of intense and great affection alternate with violence and bust. The reasons of these fights are often economic, lack of food or drugs, problems with other teen agers of the neighborhood. This physical way to show their feelings is very common. They need a physical contact meaning of love and affect. They often fight like dogs also between boys and girls and at the same time they kiss and hug each other. The only way to escape their daily horrible condition is love and to stay together. They share everything: joy, pain, violence, short moments of happyness. Their relationship gives them strenght and confort from the lack of affects from the families and support from society.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. K. (16) looks outside of a window after having a violent fight with some people in the street. The fight ended only thanks to the intervention of the police who detained her for a couple of hours. On her face and body the signs of the brutal fight. Adolescents like K. are always in danger. Currently the only solution for her is to enter in rehab community to detox herself and leave the street but it's hard to do it without the permission of her mother and her complete will to recover. She has 3 younger sisters (13, 7 and 3 years old).
Her father spent his days stealing and consuming paco, he was very violent. He beats her from the cradle. Her mother every time tried to defend her she was systematically beat, also with a stick, reason why she has big back problems. In 2016 her father was killed by the police. He escaped from the theft of a car, had surrendered, his arms raised, and they shot him the same in the street.
Since that moment K. lives on the street.
Her mother was abused up to the age of 18, reason why she seems completely stunned and she cannot provide for her family.
K. has also been abused by 5 to 12 years by an uncle. She commonly uses paco, marijuana, cocaine, any kind of drugs and alcohol.
She goes with her boyfriend F. to steal food when they are hungry and clothes when it’s too cold. She already had three abortions and was self-defeating by constantly cutting her arms. Recently she lost weight because of the high consume of Paco and she started to prostitutes herself. With the help of some social assistants and doctors she starting to think to rehab in recovery center.

Buenos Aires, Isla Maciel. F. and K. kissing after a fight under the highway in front of the storage sector of the harbour where they often to go sleep .

Buenos Aires. The guys on the top of one of the towers of Dock Sur. Dock sur and Isla Maciel originally were the same neighborhood founded by Italian immigrants and port workers who dared to cross in the river and settle into what once was a swamp surrounded by the waters of Rio de la Plata, the dirty Riachuelo and the steam Maciel. Over time, a highway was constructed that cuts half the Isla delimiting two new zones, the favela of Villa Trankila and the Dock Sur with its towers and thanks to an infrastructure project over the past 10 years, Isla has lost its insular condition.
This division is now theater of conflicts, a war for territorial control made by Narcos groups.
Guys from the Isla are scared to go close to the towers and the same happens to guys who live in Dock Sur. The towers are extremely dangerous places controlled by narcos with weapons who sells drugs under the buildings. All the towers are connected from dark alleys and tunnels.