Sepia Jardim Gramacho landscape with vultures Photograph by Vik Muniz, courtesy of Vik Muniz Studio (Click to enlarge)

These were people who had chosen to be environmental stewards — working at their own risk in disgusting circumstances, being ostracized by society but earning an honest wage without hurting anybody else. In order to make life bearable, they cooperate, they joke, and they’re very honest with one another. There’s a sense of genuine pride and rightly so. These people have a tremendously high recovery rate. They take out 200 tons of recyclables a day with their own bare hands. This is outrageously commendable.
VM:And hopeful. They have a very keen sense of survival and a will to live. It’s funny, I see a lot of poverty in Gramacho but I don’t see much misery.

Vik, at the beginning of the film you say, “What I really want to do is to be able to change the lives of a group of people with the same material that they deal with everyday.” Were you successful?
VM: Yeah. I think the idea of working within a limited range of means is important too. It had to be using exactly what they do — the same material in a similar environment for them to be aware of the change: how one thing can transform into something completely different and valuable. If garbage can turn into something so expensive, so can I… something so valuable, so can I. We’ve managed to do a number of things since the photographs were sold. We’ve helped get the Association the funds and equipment they needed to function more efficiently. I’ve matched funds with Coca Cola and a federation in Rio to create courses in business planning. We’re working with legislation, trying to lift taxation on the recycling equipment.