Intimate Photos Reveal Life Behind Dangerous Portuguese Neighbourhood

Jose Ferreira
Image Via

Photographer Jose Ferreira has created a photoset of life in the 6 de Maio neighbourhood of Portugal.

The images show the heavy drug, sex and gun trafficking that goes on there as a means of survival. Furthermore, he captures the degradation of the buildings that will soon lead to the neighbourhood being unliveable.

Ferreira shows a variety of people from the 6 de Maio community. People of colour, Trans people and those with disabilities are all given a voice through his lens. His photographs are raw as they depict the difficulty of living in this section of Portugal.

Most residents are from Cape Verde and moved to Portugal during and after the Colonial war in the 70s and 80s. Ferreira describes the conditions these people are living i that of a “warzone”. The buildings are slowly decaying and are being demolished. The streets are littered with debris from said demolition.

These images depict the heavy amount of weapons and drugs within the neighbourhood

Crime is rife in this area of Portugal. However, the police are very lax, knowing that this is the only way people can survive. Also, Ferreira captures both the troubling sides of this community and the happier, comradery side.

Ferreira stated to Vice Portugal: “It’s a very close community, very friendly, they protect each other. Many of them do not know anything other than that, they are born there, and life is there …”

Sérgio Felizardo for Vice

The photographs are hauntingly beautiful. You can really see how trusted Jose became to these people, for him to be able to capture the intimacies of their lives. Furthermore, this series really opens your eyes to how different communities are surviving when they are only a few miles away from the countries capital.

A bit closer to home, read about the latest drug craze police are warning against