Portfolio Pedro MENDES LEVIER

Creative Documentary and Photojournalism

by Magnum Photos & SpĂŠos

BOSNIA. NORTH MACEDONIA GREECE.

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The view from the Vucjak ‘jungle camp’ near the border with Croatia, 3 days before Bosnian authorities closed the place due to the inhumane living conditions.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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PEDRO MENDES LEVIER

TRAPPED Europe went into a lockdown. Borders were closed. What it seemed unthinkable for many, was already the reality that irregular migrants and asylum seekers were facing. In the last years, the borders controls had become more severe and these people got stuck in a limbo of fear and uncertainty. In the last months of 2019, Europe witnessed an increase in the waves of refugees arriving and going for “the game� - how they ironically refer to the attempts of crossing to the Old Continent. But suddenly, the game stopped. With the total closure of borders due to the Covid-19 crisis, these people were trapped between borders.

From December of 2019 to February 2020, I travelled across what is being called the new Balkan route: starting in Greece and going near the borders of countries like North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. People for hours in lines for a piece of bread and a plate of food; an eternal search for clean water to cook, drink and shower; families sharing small tents, families being separated; fires to warm the water, fires to warm their body and restless souls...

When the world started dealing with a virus that demands high higiene and social distancing, this is how these men, women and children were living.

Creative Documentary and Photojournalism

by Magnum Photos & SpĂŠos

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After 4 days of hunger strike to protest against the bad conditions they were facing at the Vucjak camp, migrants line up for lunch.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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In Vucjak camp, for water, there was a small well near the camp or the rain.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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In the middle of the night, in a transit centre at the Kumanovo mountains, the migrants who just got accepted in, are checked by doctor Filip Kuzmanovik from the Red Cross. With the threat of the Covid-19, now they also have their temperature checked.

NORTH MACEDONIA, FEBRUARY 2020

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From Afghanistan, the migrant guard his tent one day before going for ’the game’.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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Makeshift self-care at a makeshift camp.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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The migrant from Afghanistan is trying to reach the Europe Union so he can either bring his daughter and the rest of his family or send them money from working.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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The view from this sport court, on the backyard of a children’s school, is the Kumanovo Mountains. The village of Tabanovce, just at the border with Serbia, has become a common place in the route for Europe.

NORTH MACEDONIA, FEBRUARY 2020

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Friends from Congo chill inside Moria Camp at night.

GREECE, FEBRUARY 2020

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In the Moria camp, with the water being cut off several hours a day, washing hands is a privilege.

GREECE, FEBRUARY 2020

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Distribution of food - biscuits and juice on the Vucjak camp.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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To heat up the migrants burn everything they can - from papers and plastic bottles to even clothes.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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To have a warm bath like this in the middle of a cold winter night in Vucjak, the migrant had to heat the water before, in plastic bottles around a fire.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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The Syrian family receives the news that 6 of their members, including four children, got their asylum application rejected by the Greek government. But with the Covid-19 crisis, no one is allowed to leave or go inside the area of the Moria Refugee Camp.

GREECE, FEBRUARY 2020

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The view from Vucjak camp at night, 3 days before closing. All the migrants were transferred to an old military base near Sarajevo. Far away from the border with Croatia.

BOSNIA, DECEMBER 2019

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RIO DE JAN BRAZIL. 36

NEIRO,

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In front of the world famous Sugar Loaf Mountains in Rio de Janeiro, a homeless woman watches a protestor with half of her body out of the roof a car.

APRIL 2020

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PEDRO MENDES LEVIER

POLITICAL SOCIAL DISTANCING In Brazil, some people don’t believe in the Covid-19 crisis. Like the president Jair Bolsonaro. In his own words “it’s only a small flu.” Over social media, he asks Brazilians to end the social distance and confinement imposed by the governors of the states. His followers believe in him blindly and organize events like a motorcade - a car protest from the upper and middle class, asking for the end of confinement. Not only the Coronavirus is spreading but also the virus of ignorance and greed, bringing to light what the empty streets cannot hide it anymore: the everyday social distance in Brazil.

Creative Documentary and Photojournalism

by Magnum Photos & SpĂŠos

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Two protestors wave Brazilians flags out of a roof of a car as the driver gives the middle finger to people watching.

On the windows of buildings, some residents support, others curse the people on the cars.

APRIL 2020

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A protestor tries to burn a Brazilian flag in a manifestation against police brutality and racism.

JUNE 2020

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A woman wears a mask as she waves the Brazilian flag and protest against the quarantine.

APRIL 2020

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A homeless man takes shelter in a bus stop during rush hour at President Vargas Avenue - business center of Rio de Janeiro.

APRIL 2020

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On Easter Sunday, two homeless men burn papers under a sign that reads “God’s omniscience does not determine my choices” APRIL 2020

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Despite of the prohibition of going to the beach, a woman does her morning exercise on the sands of Leblon - Rio’s wealthiest neighbourhood.

APRIL 2020

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JosĂŠ da Silva got in Rio a couple of days before the city and the state went in quarantine. Working as waste picker, he could not find the amount to sell and buy a ticket back home.

He is living between the streets and the public shelters.

MAY 2020

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People lay down in a ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest in Rio de Janeiro.

JUNE 2020

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On mother’s day, military cops buy flowers in the Municipal Market of Rio. MAY 2020

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While people lay down in a ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest, a woman holds a cross with the name ‘Agatha’, a little girl who was killed by the police.

JUNE 2020

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A homeless man takes shelter to sleep in front of a bank in Rio de Janeiro.

Behind him there’s a trash bin which he uses to store his belongings.

Because of violence, homeless people sleep wherever there is light.

MAY 2020

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ABOUT 72

I’m Pedro Mendes Levier, a documentary photographer and journalist, based between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Paris, France. I tell stories, specially stories of real people. Either in advertisings, documentaries, TV series, reportages or photography. Either in one frame or 24 per second, I tell stories.

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pedrolevier@gmail.com WhatsApp: + 33 766618303 Phone: + 55 21 981655045 Instagram: @pedrolevier https://pedromendeslevier.46graus.com/

2020, Pedro Mendes Levier All rights reserved.