Art & Photography Books:

Valerio Bispuri: Paco

Sorry, this product is not currently available to order

Here are some other products you might consider...

Valerio Bispuri: Paco

Click to share your rating 0 ratings (0.0/5.0 average) Thanks for your vote!

Format:

Hardback
Unavailable
Sorry, this product is not currently available to order

Description

Paco is the result of a long-term project about the life cycle of a new drug. An investigation on its production, trafficking, consumption, addicts and victims. Sold for less than half a dollar per dose, Paco has been called "the poor man's cocaine" and has ravaged the poorest slums of Buenos Aires. Smoked like crack, it has an extremely short effect and can lead to addiction in just as short a time, turning out to be much more addictive than heroin or crack itself. The effect lasts for only five to ten minutes, and it takes only about thirty seconds to act. Also known as PBC (pasta basica de cocaina, "cocaine base paste"), Paco is the waste product of cocaine preparation and is mixed with hypertoxical chemical substances varying from kerosene, glue, glass powder and even rat poison. It is mainly produced in clandestine laboratories, known as cocinas ("kitchens"), in the Villas, the slums outside Buenos Aires. Some of the submitted pictures are a rare depiction of the Paco kitchens and document the whole process of its production. Twelve to seventeen-year-old boys living in urban ghettos are among the worst hit by this addiction. This phenomenon creates a young army of "walking dead" that will do anything to get their dose, with devastating human, sanitary and social effects for whole communities. But Paco is becoming a problem in the middle and upper classes too and one of the reasons for its diffusion is of course widespread poverty that followed Argentina's economic crisis of 2001. After the harsh reportage Encerrados (Contrasto, 2015), which led him to visit 74 South American prisons, Bispuri offers here another punctual documentation on a little-known phenomenon, but not for this less alarming. The images are accompanied by three essays, in English and Spanish, by the author, by the writer Marco Lodoli and the journalist Cesar Gonzalez.

Author Biography:

Valerio Bispuri was born in Rome in 1971. Professional reporter since 2001 he collaborates with numerous Italian and international magazines, among which L'Espresso, Il Venerdi, Internazionale, Le Monde, Stern. Valerio has been awarded numerous international prizes: Latin American POY 2011 (honourable mention); Sony World Photography Award 2013 (1st prize Contemporary Issues); Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards 2013 and the 2014 POY (2nd prize, Feature Story Editing - Magazine).
Release date NZ
November 23rd, 2017
Audience
  • General (US: Trade)
Country of Publication
Italy
Imprint
Contrasto
Pages
124
Publisher
Contrasto
ISBN-13
9788869657238
Product ID
27240657

Customer reviews

Nobody has reviewed this product yet. You could be the first!

Write a Review

Marketplace listings

There are no Marketplace listings available for this product currently.
Already own it? Create a free listing and pay just 9% commission when it sells!

Sell Yours Here

Help & options

Filed under...