The River & I – In The Rainforest – Edge of Humanity Magazine

Photojournalist and Documentary Photographer Raphael Alves is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Riversick’. To see Raphael ’s body of work, click on any image.

“Riversick” is a work about how people and nature share the space in Manaus (the biggest city in the Amazon region, Brazil).

Manaus is the Amazonas state capital and the main financial center, corporate and economic development of northern Brazil. It is a historical and port city, located in the center of the largest rainforest in the world. It is located at the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes rivers. It is the most populous city in the state of Amazonas and in the Amazon, with a population of over two million inhabitants. Still, the geographical distance to the major centers of the country, keep the city not very known on the national scene.

“No one ever thought about what’s beyond the river of my village. The river of my village doesn’t make one think of anything. Whoever is next to it is simply next to it”, once said Alberto Caeiro.

Sometimes I think that “Caeiro’s village” is exactly the place where I live in. I was born by the river. I grew up by the river. And though I have moved for some years to study, my life is still by the river. After photographing Manaus for a while (and I am still shooting) I realized my body of work could approach the relation people in the urban areas have with nature, notably with water.

The name of the series comes from a paronomasia of the words “homesick” and “seasick”. ‘River’ because of the geographical location of Manaus (by two of the biggest rivers in the world – Solimões and Negro). And ‘sick’ meaning a feeling that varies between missing the place that Manaus (may or may not) have been and the nausea caused by its urban issues.