Let the Sun Shine in the Shadows
James Forde

A huge labyrinth skirts the outer rims of the city of Caracas, climbing up and over the valleys. It is Petare, home to some two million people and the highest crime rates in Latin America – larger and more violent as years go on. Overcrowded, unofficial cities filled with young mothers, fatherless children; many fall into a life of underage crime and drugs, lucky to survive adolescence without being shot, killed or spending time in prison.

According to the Venezuelan children’s rights group CECODAP, the number of crimes perpetrated by minors increased 70% in 2014, while Reuters reported one youth was murdered every ten hours. UNICEF states Venezuela as the third worst country worldwide for youth homicides. While none of this information is disputable, what the mainstream media tends to forget or chooses not to highlight is that behind all of the negativity and darkness that shrouds these areas, there lays many a normal existence. Two million Venezuelans have moved abroad in the last four years. Opportunities normally do not arrive on the doorsteps of those who consider Petare home and so they continue to look for light closer to home, taking solace in the amenities available and friendships forged in a too fragile peace.
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James is an Irish freelance photographer based in London. For several years, he documented social issues in Latin America. His work is focused on long term documentary projects investigating under-reported socio-political issues. In 2017, James attended the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop. The following year, he was nominated for the PDN 30 under 30 Photographers. ²

About the Series
TLP Editions are an ongoing collection of contemporary photographic projects in the form of accessible and inexpensive publications by PhotoIreland. These A5 sized booklets present a standard format throughout the series, with 36 pages each, a cover with a text block of under 140 words that introduces the project, and the title and the artist name only available on the contra cover. The project creates a node of opportunities as it allows photographers to enter the publishing arena, while facilitating access to contemporary artistic practices to the general public.³

About the Publisher
Founded in 2009, PhotoIreland was conceived as an organisation that would stimulate a dialogue around Photography in Ireland by developing a varied array of initiatives and events with a strong participative approach.