El Cartucho, 2019
Stanislas Guigui lived for 3 years in the El Cartucho district of Bogota, located in the city centre, two blocks from the presidential palace. Abandoned by the bourgeoisie in the 1950s during the Bogozato era, this district has become a refuge for the poor. The outsiders mingle there drug addicts, petty thieves, kids from the streets, dealers, gangs live in a striking misery. In this urban jungle, the only law seems to be that of violence. Knife fighting, trafficking of all kinds, delinquency, or clashes with the police punctuate the daily lives of this population of “desechables” as they are called in the country.
Destroyed since that time, El Cartucho comes to life again in the photographs and texts of Stanislas Guigui. He describes a humanity whose only purpose is to survive. Without any judgment or compassion, he paints a portrait of this vast Court of Miracles in Colombia.