Description
This intimate photobook sees Brazil-born, UK-based Valverdes travel to her home country to photograph “invisible” young women and girls living on the street, many of whom protect themselves from unwanted male attention by dressing up as boys. Shot on a borrowed Pentax K1000, these images are as playful as they are poignant, depicting the high stakes of exploring your own femininity in an unsafe space. Valverdes built relationships with many of her subjects, letting them borrow clothes she’d worn as a teen, including her mum’s wedding dress. Brazilian Street Girls is the product of the photographer’s lifelong fascination with those who live life on the margins – in this case, women and girls whose coming-of-age is rarely, if ever, documented.
